Open Call: Leisure Harbor, Competition to Redesign One of the 10 Most Important Marinas in Europe

YAC –Young Architects Competitions–, BT Group, and Marina di Loano launch LEISURE HARBOR, a competition of ideas aiming to re-design one of the 10 most important marinas of Europe. The cash prize of € 20, 000 will be distributed to the winning proposals selected by an international jury panel made of, among the others: Manuel Aires Mateus, Patrick Lüth (Snøhetta), Huang Wenjing (OPEN Architecture), Paolo Matteuzzi (Zaha Hadid Architects).

Regardless of one’s origins, most are somehow fascinated by harbors. The sound of the siren, the pungent salty smell in fall foggy nights, the rumble of the wind, and therefore the roaring of the waves in turbulent winter days. There are numerous nuances that connote seashores. Yet, there’s a continuing touch of mystery when cities immerse within the sea. there’s always a way of tenderness when waves are tamed.

For centuries, harbors are quite places. they need been the scene of adventures, a jumble of cultures, and oddities of all types . they need been the place where memories become stories, stories become legends, and legends often become myths.

In times forged by the industry, the race to the space and therefore the rumble of shuttles, harbors seem to be outdated places that are frequently desolate or heavily industrialized. they’re now severed from the cities they once wont to enliven as cultural epicenters and beating hearts.

What is the role of harbors in the web and smartphone era then?

This is the question Leisure Harbor aims to answer. This is the competition by BT and Marina di Loano to define the future of harbors by redesigning one of the 10 most important marinas of Europe. It is indeed a remarkable opportunity to rediscover harbors as lively places, city epicenters overlooking the sea, and privileged cultural and social places.

The current world has indeed moved its barycenter. Great explorations are not carried out with compasses or sails billowed by the wind anymore. Yet, now more than ever the world needs dreams. Now more than ever the world needs beauty and a return to nature. In this sense, harbors are an extraordinary opportunity. Harbors are the place of the soul and not just nautical infrastructures. This is because harbors are the beginning and the end of the most outstanding adventures. This is also because harbors are the most recent expression of the atavistic impulse to the unknown that roars and will always roar behind the rational composure of all times.