Lighthouse Sea Hotel

Slender and solitary, the lighthouses are situated in wonderful and often uncontaminated ecosystems and are an inestimable legacy of the past.

From the legendary Colossus of Rhodes to the majestic Pharos of Alexandria, lighthouses have always marked human history, adquiring a crucial importance beyond the basic function of a warning facility: suggesting dream, adventure, fascination and mystery.

On the cliff of Murro di Porco - a few kilometres from the historic center of Syracuse, is situated a lighthouse of supreme charm and value.  The lighthouse of Murro di Porco was once lived-in but then it was gradually abandoned with the arrival of modern technologies. As it became a simple lantern, a place no longer inhabited by humans, the lighthouse has progressively deteriorated as it often happens to many other coastal buildings.

“Valore Paese FARI” (Value Country LIGHTHOUSES) was created precisely in order to protect such heritage. It is a project of the Italian government to transform lighthouses into tourism and accommodation facilities. It was inspired by the idea of making the most of their valuable location and proximity to the sea to create dream-like accomodation able to reinvent the ancient lighthouses and reverse their degradation process.

How can we transform a lighthouse into an incomparable accomodation? How can we relate projects of contemporary architecture to such majestic and fragile ecosystems?

On the basis of these gripping issues, YAC launches Lighthouse Sea Hotel in collaboration with the Italian government and thanks to the support of Rimini fair. How can we transform a lighthouse into an incomparable accomodation? How can we relate projects of contemporary architecture to such majestic and fragile ecosystems?

This competition challenges the designers to let the beauty of these remote places fascinate them; to imagine a new future for these abandoned lighthouses by transforming them into tourism facilities beyond compare and to make their protection and possible conservation sustainable.

YAC thanks all the designers who will take part in this challenge.