Verso is an environmental development and preservation project carried out between April and September 2015 on behalf of the local administration of Melendugno and resulted from a cooperation between MARGINE and the local administration’s technical office.
MARGINE applied for and succeeded in obtaining the European fisheries fund (EFF) 2007-2013 – Axis 4 – Measure 4.1 “Sustainable development of fisheries areas” provided by the Coastal Development Plan of the GAC (Governmental Advisory Committee) Adriatico Salentino on behalf of the local administration of Melendugno. We acted as project managers for the stages of feasibility planning and project sustainability as well as designers and building site engineers for the currently ongoing building works.
The area that will be subject to intervention is an urban portion of the coastal road located nearby the southern access to San Foca. Despite its being regarded as a panoramic spot due to its proximity to the sea, this portion of road cannot be considered as such since the sight is currently obscured by the many houses that lie between the road and the coastline. The only exception is one single gap that is currently being used improperly as vehicle access to the coastline. The sidewalk opposed to the sea lies in a poor state of maintenance.
A renovation of the current urban pattern through a redesign of the existing road portion is included in our project. In details: a) requalification of the pedestrian area; b) implementation of an access spot to the coastline in order to allow easy access and usability for pedestrians and to prevent vehicle access. Such access spot has been designed as a “Fishery Garden” aimed at harmoniously joining the artificial product of the architectural building with the natural environment of the coastline. Besides providing this part of the town with a new public area, this garden also encourages cultural and environmental awareness through a process of planting and regeneration of species indigenous to the coastline environment and the implementation of information totems that describe the local art and tradition of fishery.
Moreover, this intervention has made it possible to create a sustainable mobility path to connect the two main beaches of San Foca: a bicycle path detached from the main coastal road provides for a safe connection between the two areas.
