Lighthouse sea hotel
The haunting beauty of the place suggests a project which does not impose an excessive and arrogant presence, rather, in dialogue with the morphology of the site. The idea of Lighthouse Sea Hotel is based on simplicity and silence. The project tries to resolve, with sensibility to the site, the dialectical relation between the artiThcial and the natural, at the same time, proposes a functional and constructive clarity. This simplicity gives it the sobriety and elegance needed to fits in an environment of such strong character. The LSH is a simple place with essential services and a small space for water sports school and training activities; like a shelter, reinterpreting in a contemporary way the sicilian historical architecture and the traditional rural constructions. This seemingly primitive building tries to establish, through its sculpted surfaces, a unique relationship with its surrounding environment. The Lighthouse Sea Hotel, incorporated into the walkway, became a belvedere on the sea. The existing buildings and the new LSH are linked together by the paths. The proposal combines the conservation and protection of the botanical richness and its landscape value, through a route that involves the perception of time, for a slowly discovery of this ‘natural monument’.
According to the Strategic Tourism Plan 2020, which aims to stimulate a new receptivity system, the new Lighthouse Sea Hotel becomes an attraction hub of the turism flows more sensible to the enjoy cultural heritage. As espresse in the program of improvement Lighthouse of Murro di Porco, in accordance with the project "Valore Paese -FARI", the project refers to models of sustainable tourism as alternatives to traditional ones, favoring the contact with the natural environment. The Lighthouse Sea Hotel design provides a harmonious relation with the surrounding landscape. The characteristics of the site are very important for the project strategies. The proposal is an architecture without façade, a building which is developed from the ground level downwards, to preserve the initial condition of natural belvedere over the sea. The main concept behind the site's position of the LSH is to work in accordante to the rocky topography and to intercept the best solar exposure. The intention of this project is to blend into the landscape, with the minimum environmental impact on its surrounding. The building dialogues with this "natural monument" through a reduced geometry, with a minimum expression of a line. It's like a terrace with a path to look and to stay for the contemplation of the landscape. Coming from the road, the building is not visible. The scenographic presence of the lighthouse is maintained, thus remaining the undiscussed protagonist of the landscape and ensuring the preservation of the perceptual relationship.
The proposal combines the conservation and protection of the botanical richness present in this Site of Community Interest, and its landscape value, through a route of arrival that involves the perception of time and the knowledge to walk into a place that should inspire respect, with the belief that this is a place that must be discovered slowly; the design of the path wants to highlight the beauty of the time carved the geological history of these rocks. The visitors are made to access to the LSH, by a means of initiation, which requires a slower and spectacular discovery at the site. The accessibility becomes a pretext to enable a narrative of this landscape, a means of decompression, allowing the slow tourist to reclaim time, for, emphasizing quality over quantity, the journey than the staying. The accessibility is a very important point of the general design, it is based from a simple concept: the Lighthouse Sea Hotel is incorporated into the walkway; so it's possible to access to the roof, which becomes a belvedere on the sea. The existing buildings and the new LSH are linked together by the path. The stone path along the coastline provides a way to respect the more uneven terrain. The goal is to create a pleasurable, natural walkway in this palimpsest landscape.
The haunting beauty of the place suggests a project which does not impose an excessive and arrogant presence, rather, it is in dialogue with the morphology of the site. The idea of Lighthouse Sea Hotel is based on simplicity and silence. The project tries to resolve, with sensibility to the site, the dialectical relation between the artificial and the natural, and at the same time, proposes a functional and constructive clarity. This simplicity gives it the sobriety and elegance needed to fit in an environment of such strong character. The building is secondary as the landscape will always dominate. For this reason the lighthouse is interpreted as a benchmark for a less luxurious kind of tourism which targets nature, water sports and hiking enthusiasts. In this sense the lighthouse is a starting point to discover the wonders of the Plemmirio area. So the LSH is a simple place with essential services and a small space for water sports school and training activities. The building emerges as a raised platform, like a rock in which deep holes are drilled to introduce air and light, and which holds the more private needs of the program. The composition process is based on distinction between servant and served spaces. The main spaces are defined by a 'massive elements' containing the various service facilities. The geometry of the building consists of a central hall, surrounded by a perimeter of servant spaces. In the solid-void plan, the main (served) spaces, such as dining rooms and conference area, are in white, while the auxiliary (servant) spaces, such as kitchen, storage and technical rooms, are in black. This concept design offers at the LSH the feeling of shelter, reinterpreting in a contemporary way the sicilian historical architecture and the traditional rural constructions.
The design of the walkway is based on two main rules: not to alter any rock that the visitors could potentially walk upon; in situations where the rocks form a complex elements, the project finds a place where could construct a path which allowing people to continue on the walk. Another approach is whenever you can find an important rock in the path, an element that deserves to be contemplated and respect, we would leave it incorporated into the walkway. This new building is aimed at people who are searching the infinite, those looking for a place to reflect looking at the horizon; to get lost in front of the stunning magnificence of Nature, as an inner and spiritual experience. This seemingly primitive building tries to establish, through its sculpted surfaces, a unique relationship with its surrounding environment. An architecture characterized by the expression of the material that shapes the space and it’s geometrical clarity. The multiple illumination points - horizontally from the perimeter openings and vertically through several openings in ceiling - changing natural light into the large central space, allowing it to be experienced in a relaxing and by no means monotonous way.
The building options in this project is determined by the idea that materials communicate. With minimal resources, the composition manages to create a diversity of atmospheres of spatial richness, susceptible of producing emotions. Using an outcropping of rocks in the back of the LSH as a visual reaffirming further the link between the environment and the interior of the building. The Syracusan stone responds positively to the sustainability requirements, as it is a natural material used for centuries in this context; mining has a minimal consumption of resources. It is a material available in abundance, precisely because it is a local material ensures minimal transportation costs; and also, it is possible to recycle part of the material for grinding and the subsequent production of aggregates and sand. This straightforward construction is based on three materials: concrete pre-cast beams, local stone for paths and rammed earth blocks (mixed with concrete, clay, gravel and sand) for walls. The rich materiality of the walls reflect the cliff, fusing the new forms with the environment. The surface of the plinth reveals the composite qualities of the material, sand, conglomerate gravel, pebbles, broken stone, in a cement matrix. The monolithic appearance of exposed rammed concrete makes a building look like a sculpture. So the building looks from the outside like a faceted mass with rough surfaces.
