ON THE FOOTPRINTS OF PUMICE

UNESCO has suggested the island of Lipari to be one of the focal points of the Aeolian Islands geopark system. Lipari hosts several Pumice industrial sites, which are one of its main characteristics. Accordingly, the site of Acquacalda - located in the north of Lipari which includes the pumice silos-has been chosen to transform the existing buildings into a post-industrial park and open-air museum. Strategies vary from large scale interventions like improving the quality of the existing vehicular paths and introducing a network of trekking paths in order to connect the main industrial sites to both, the pumice quarry and the sea. In the meantime, the architectural interventions include a sequence of gardens that have been inserted into the existing silos, which users will experience through a set of pathways at different levels. Lastly, there are several interior architectural interventions that aim to improve the quality of space. This project would, thus, provide an opportunity for users to experience different qualities of spaces while moving from the 0 level beside the sea up to 78 meters on top of quarry in mountains. The project aims at bringing vitality to the northern portion of Lipari and to preserve the industrial heritage of the island by means of adaptive reuse of the existing infrastructure.