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Slowscape is slow landscapes and fast connections, where heritage meets innovation

The Apulian coastal defense system is widespread along the entire coast and consists of 127 towers, built between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries. Among these, 58 are public property of which 80% is now in a state of neglect. The requalification opportunities for each individual tower are varied and appealing to private investors but an uncoordinated enhancement could threaten the conservation of the infrastructure in its entirety, depriving our region of an extraordinary opportunity for development.

The project aims to operate a salvaging of the entire infrastructure, by leading to the creation of a unique system of its kind in Italy. Slowscape will therefore be the perfect meeting place for young entrepreneurs and innovators that in the interconnected system of towers will find the right size to abandon the bustle of city life without leaving home their projects and ambitions.

The towers, which have been all built in direct visibility to each other, will be connected through an high speed wireless backbone. The activities carried out within this distributed hub are designed to allow a constant use of space by residents and tourists and transform this coastal area into a place of meeting and sharing. Classrooms, small conference rooms, workshops and prototyping areas (such as Fab Labs), co-working and tele-working stations, will be the new spaces, interior and exterior, of the towers.

ACHIEVED RESULTS

In 2013 the project was a finalist (out of over 500 proposals) of the call ars ideaTRE60, promoted by Fondazione Italiana Accenture. Recently it has also generated the interest of the Puglia Region that is working to integrate Slowscape among the pilot actions of the Regional Landscape Territorial Plan and within the proposals of the regional development plan “SAC Arneo costa dei Ginepri”.

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