“SALENTINE TEXTURES: ETHNOGRAPHIC CENTRE OF THE EAST COAST OF TARANTO

The project is located in Puglia, in the heart of the Salento peninsula, among the three provinces of Taranto, Brindisi and Lecce, in a coastal area called "Salina dei Monaci”. Much of the area, despite the attempts of reclamation, abandonment and illegal building, still shows parts of the coast untouched. Since 2005 the entire area was established as a Site of Community Interest (SCI) and a lot of bicycle paths have planned. The project, providing some additional connections with the hinterland, is placed at the intersection of two of these paths, close to the town of Torre Colimena, within a drainage basin today unused.

The formal genesis of the etnografic center is the result of the extension of three routes that exist today within the basin and their connection to different levels. The intertwining of these paths with some floating gardens, designed as an extension of the marsh vegetation, creates the building itself, which has fixed and floating parts.

It has chosen to use almost exclusively the wood with some components in glass and steel. In particular, it is planned to use the azobe wood (lophira alata), a wood extremely hard and resistant to sea for vertical structures and the spruce fir (Picea excelsa), one of the most popular and sustainable wood in Europe, for the others structures. The result is a building that reflects its natural wood essence in the basin and it is linked with the territory, becoming a point of connection between the land and the sea.