Thousands of years ago, the Roman fleet was supplying itself with drinking water from Piscina Mirabilis, one of the largest reservoirs of the Empire. Abandoned for centuries and unknown to all, this pearl of the Roman architecture must be revealed!
Our architectural intervention unveils the existing by placing a landmark on top of the reservoir, visible from the entire gulf of Naples. This volume grows in a double direction towards the sky and down into the underground, bringing light and life within the cistern. The two halves of the tower create an upside-down tension between light and dark, sky and ground, in and out.
Water brings back the spirit of the place by covering the outside esplanade and falling into the reservoir, all around the tower. The flowing element creates a filter between the ancient and the modern and recalls the characteristic of this place: inaccessibility.
From afar, the visitor is called to the site by the landmark, but as he gets there he first enters down into the reservoir. He is invited to immerse himself in an underground atmosphere. Strolling between the pillars, he discovers step by step the disseminated work of art and guesses the submerged part of the tower. Through the water, he seizes the lights radiating from this mysterious cube and some moving shadows inside. As the visitor cannot enter the tower from the reservoir, he wanders around the underground volume and makes his way up to the esplanade. When emerging in the aerial world, he understands the origin of the cascade: the tower stands in the middle of a water mirror. Here, the rest of the exhibition leads the visitor to rise.
The upside-down tower connects two worlds and offers incredible views of these two landscapes: up towards the gulf of Naples and down onto Piscina Mirabilis.
