There is a certain interest around lighthouse architecture. Perhaps it is because, in a global and compulsively interconnected world, these solitary constructions evoke an idea of essential, secluded and perhaps somewhat crazy life: that of the farists, who often had the sea and the wind as their only interlocutors and no other necessity but balance with nature. Or maybe it is because, in a more subliminal way, they are a solid bulwark protecting against uncontrollable forces: with their intermittent beam of light that pierces the darkness, lighthouses guide and signal dangerous coastal areas, accesses and obstacles, protecting the orientation and safety of navigation and reassuring the possibility for man to maintain a power – albeit minimal – over inscrutable dynamics.
These places, on the one hand poetic and on the other hand technically efficient, are however today threatened by the evolution of communication technologies that often lead to their decommissioning, abandonment and degradation.
For this reason, many disused lighthouses, because of their historical-testimonial value, are being recovered and reborn to a new life: as receptive spaces for visitors who aspire to find themselves in a reconciling context (Capo Spartivento, Bergeggi and Brucoli lighthouses), as museums of the maritime culture they represent (Santa Marta lighthouse), as simple testimonies of an ecosystem to be preserved (Capel Rosso lighthouse, Rubjerg Knude lighthouse).
Nevertheless, lighthouses still remain an inviting design theme, and so new ones are being built that stand out on the horizon like sculptural totems, to play a purely functional role (Yeda Lighthouse, Punta del Hidalgo Lighthouse, Enoshima Sea Candle) or to represent an iconic landmark in the area (Al Fanar).
In any case, the fascination of these ‘luminous’ architectures and the symbolic value they imply remains: lanterns that never go out, in defiance of satellites and GPS.
Lighthouse architecture: 10 contemporary projects that never go out
Lighthouses represent a combination of romanticism and technical efficiency, and between rehabilitation, re-functionalisation and new construction they offer stimulating design themes and fascinating destinations to explore.
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- Chiara Testoni
- 15 October 2022
Although not particularly graceful in form - a cylindrical body onto which is grafted a spherical and somewhat redundant belvedere - the Yeda Lighthouse located at the entrance to the harbour is known to be, at 133m high, the highest lighthouse in the world and its beam has a range of 46 kilometres.
The lighthouse, located a short distance from the coast of Punta de Hidalgo in the north-west of Tenerife, is an approximately 50-metre high sculpture of dazzling white reinforced concrete, with a vaguely expressionist flavour with its irregular, jagged shapes that develop from a triangular base and taper dramatically towards the sky.
Also known as the Shonan Observatory Lighthouse, the lighthouse stands in the Samuel Cocking Garden on the coast of the small island of Enoshima and is characterised by an inverted truncated cone structure of steel beams and columns arranged around an internal helical staircase leading to the two observation platforms.
Built in 1854 by the Italian Navy, the Capo Spartivento Lighthouse, after years of service and the automation in the 1980s, has been reborn as an exclusive guest house since 2006, thanks to a renovation project that offers lucky visitors an immersive experience in a place that smells of history and nature, overlooking the Sardinian sea.
The complex with the 17th-century military fort and the 20-metre-high 19th-century lighthouse clad in alternating bands of white and blue azulejos has been the subject of a reuse project characterised by a conservative approach regarding the existing volumes and a new building with white, minimalist forms. The structure, converted into a thematic museum on the Portuguese lighthouse system, is the only example of a museum with a lighthouse still in operation: two exhibition halls and an auditorium are located in the existing buildings, while the new building houses an office, a cafeteria, toilets and the keeper's room.
The 60 m high building, a contemporary re-interpretation of the lighthouse theme, stands at the entrance to the Safaa harbour serving as an imposing landmark for KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) and the entire city of Jeddah. The complex spire structure is an aggregate of hexagonal shapes of precast concrete blocks forming a perforated envelope, inspired by traditional building elements of Arab architecture. The building works as a natural cooling tower analogous to the minarets of mosques, pushing warm air upwards and channelling the sea breeze down to the lower level to cool the room.
Situated in an area of great naturalistic value the building, which was used for over a century as accommodation for farists and their families and then fell into disuse - with the exception of the lighthouse lantern, which is still working - has been the subject of a meticulous conservative restoration and redevelopment of the surrounding vegetation, in the name of respect for the architectural, landscape and historical values of the building and its territory.
The installation of a sculpture - a gigantic kaleidoscope of facetted metal shapes that moves with the wind, placed at the top of the building - offered the opportunity to reopen the historic lighthouse to the public and provide visitors walking along the perforated metal staircase with a spectacular view of the surrounding landscape.
The restoration of a complex in a state of ruin, composed of a main body and an adjacent secondary volume, proposes a mixed-use building housing a residence and the headquarters of the marine park on the island of Bergeggi. The pure and essential volumes that evoke the outlines of the original building, clad both in the shells and in the roofs by natural stone ashlars of different sizes, give the new architecture the character of a sculptural monolith emerging directly from the sand and rocks.
The restoration project for the conversion of a 1911 complex into a tourist-receptive facility involved the consolidation and conservation of the original body, freed of incongruous superfetations. The ground floor is dedicated to the living area and the kitchen-dining room, while the first floor houses three bedrooms and a bathroom; an external staircase leads to the panoramic terrace where the lighthouse lantern, which is still working, is located. The use of local materials such as Modica stone for floors and walls creates a deep connection with the local building tradition.