Arneo is a wide territory of Puglia, between Ionian coast and the inland, involving three provinces (Lecce, Taranto and Brindisi) in the heart of Salento. The landscape is dominated by the green of the Mediterranean scrub, the warm chromatic tones of the secular olive trees and the vineyards of Negramaro, a typical local wine. The town of Leverano stands in the Arneo territory (14.238 inhabitants) on the fertile flat inland of Salento and it dominates the plain declining down to the Ionian sea, which is 10 km away. The town represents a relevant rural centre and it is separated from the coast by a territory characterized by lands where, besides the cultivation of vineyards and olive trees, floriculture is also practiced. The territory is filled with a system of towers and fortified anthropological urgencies both on the coast and the inland and in the past it was continuously exposed to every kind of invader and incursions by Pirates. The coastal towers were built just for defense and sighting purposes, along the coasts and in the inland. The area is a very popular touristic destination and the coastal part of the Arneo territory welcomes, during summer, up to 300.000 people. With the aim of discouraging the construction of new accommodation structures close to the coast. The Municipality of Leverano has decided to promote a program for an innovative concept of hospitality known as “Albergo Diffuso” (a hotel conceived not as in a single block, but converted out of various historic buildings in a small community) aimed at relaunching the economy linked to tourism and facilities.

The goal of LEVERANO HORIZON TOWER competition is to make the most of the landscape of Arneo by promoting the projecting of tower observatories located close to rural tracks and roads leading from Leverano to the sea, able to reinterpret in a modern way the tradition of the typical towers of Salento. The new observatories will have the double function of new privileged observation points of the local landscape, allowing the visitor to have a complete vision on the referred territory, and of stop areas (rest zones, selling points for local products, shops for sustainable means of transport) hosting services for tourists going to the sea. The main objective is to encourage a new idea of touristic development for the territory, thanks to an innovative model of accommodation facility crossing and regenerating the territory in all its aspects (villages, rural ares, coast).

Have you ever desired to observe the landscape from above? The competition promotes the projecting of a refuge from which it is possible to go beyond the height of the crown of olive trees forming the countryside and to watch the territory from a privileged point of view. The towers will be located in the part of the Territory going from Leverano to the coast (7km) and will be far 1 km from each others.

Jury

Arch. Massimo Crusi, President of the Board of Architects and PPC of Lecce”  or his delegate.

Ing. Michele Martina

Ing. Antonio Miraglia

Arch. Marco Muscogiuri

Arch. Spartaco Paris

PRIZES:

1° prize: 1500 € + Exhibition + Publication

2°  prize:1000€ +Exhibition + Publication

3° prize:500 € + Exhibition + Publication

Special mention:Exhibition

Publication_ The selected projects will be published on the websites specialized in the domain of architecture, allowing in this way a diffusion on the internet thanks to social networks and blogs.

Exhibitions_ The selected projects will be presented with exhibitions in one museum of Leverano during the summer and in iArchitettura presso Galleria Francesco Foresta in Lecce.www.iarchitettura.it

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