It seems to us that it makes no sense to talk about the reuse of the tower without first promoting a strategy aimed at making people aware that the same tower exists! That it is part of a dynasty of unrepeatable monuments and, again, that there is a wonderful hidden environmental heritage, unknown to most, that it is time to learn to “live”. The tower is therefore only a pretext, a precious trump card for designing a proposal for a general reorganization and regeneration of the coastal landscape, so often violated by speculation and unawareness.

Let’s imagine that Torre Rinalda could be the first episode of a very successful series. Let’s think of a large ecological system of coastal paths and trajectories with which to interconnect the towers (making them finally reachable, discoverable, visitable) and with which to peacefully “colonise” and at the same time protect the landscape.

In deepening some of the of the Rauccio Park issues, we imagine the possibility of crossing the places and the dune complexes without damaging them, on suspended paths and wooden platforms, promoting the constitution of a new large coastal botanical garden. An unprecedented territorial system in which the towers will be able to rediscover the original relationship of interdependence, returning to constitute landing and meeting points for people. At Torre Rinalda, a suspended jetty will allow people to walk 100 meters away from the coast and gaze at the tower like never before. Exactly how the Saracens must have seen it arriving from the sea! A “square” on water, among the rocks, in the shape of a roundabout, will allow people to (re)find in the tower a new place of the heart.

Localized reforestation and reintroduction on the shifting and fossilized dunes of the coastal flora and fauna will do the real hard work of the project. We like to think we can contribute to the possible regeneration of the ancient “Forest of Lecce”, an environmental system of extraordinary importance back then extending from the baroque city to the Adriatic sea, and of which the Rauccio wetland represents an important residual testimony. The project therefore presents itself as a method for the knowledge and (re)constitution of new physical and emotional landscapes. A theory for a new big bang of public space, heritage awareness and territory care.

“Man dwells poetically on this earth” Hölderlin reminds us. So we do our best to restore beauty to places. The rest, we do strongly believe, will follow by itself.

Chronology: 2023 competition project

Category: Public spaces, landscape

Architectural Project & Landscaping: Tomas Ghisellini, Lucrezia Alemanno

Architectural project assistance: Giorgio Barba

Graphics: Giorgio Barba, Lucrezia Alemanno

Visual: Bruno Sansone