20 Jan Listen to the wind
The place
On the border with Greece in an abandoned place where nature had taken over, the client, inspired by the desire to bring the concept of “beauty” into his corporate culture, asked us to design the landscape and architecture for a new port for the storage of oil products.
We walked for a long time on the beach to listen to nature through its elements: water, wind, clouds, light and sand…
Sensations
The wind was blowing hard on that piece of shoreline...
The many white clouds rushed through the sky...
Right after a shell was found on the beach...
From these suggestions we generated the ``concept``.
``Dwelling in nature``
Concept
The strong wind seeks us out and creates “protection”…
The Aleppian pines and tamarisk trees, bent by the wind, bore witness to this.
The many clouds running in the sky suggested the dominant colour of the architecture: white…
A shell found on the shoreline inspired the “spiral” formal research that could give a 360-degree view of the landscape but at the same time create a protection from the inside.
The first sketches came out immediately, the same day.
Project
The design idea originated from a long and careful observation of the place: the site was in fact characterized by a strong and violent wind that covered the seashells on the beach with sand, made the clouds run and bent the Aleppo pines and tamarisk trees.
The shells found during the long inspection determined the shape of the residences and the lighthouse tower, 33 meters high, which houses conference rooms, exhibition halls and a belvedere.
Construction site
Traditional construction techniques related to Albanian handicrafts have been prepared on the construction site.
The people worked with great passion, mostly by hand; the scaffolding was wood and the stones used, in circular economy, were the same extracted from the construction excavations.
Very few materials: local stones, teak wood, lime plaster in balance with what nature already offered: water, sand, stones, Aleppo pines and tamarisk.
The final result
Nature has generated architecture that has naturally reintegrated itself into the landscape...
A few months later, nature itself has shaped and covered the ground, creating the soft dunes visible in the photographs.
Light reflections
Natural light, both day and night, cuts through the architecture creating delicate plays of light and shadow and for this reason very little artificial light has been added.
Nature and architecture merge without boundaries.
ProjectLandscape and architecture for a new port of oil products
Landscape and architectural designer Patrizia Pozzi
Executive project
ENERECO engineering and service
Water project and maritime works IDROTEC
Location Valona, Albania
Year 2013
Client PIR Group, an important operator of port logistics that concretely supports the taste for beauty in the company culture
Area 60.000 mq
Collaborations
Photography Davide Forti