| Title | Solar Garden |
| Year | 2010 |
| Location | Favazzina, Italy |
| Brief | Rehabilitation of disused viaduct and highway |
| Notes | Competition entry for “Solar Park South” |
Approximately 3 billion years ago, algae were responsible for creating the Earth’s oxygen atmosphere, allowing life to evolve as we know it. Current concerns on the future of the Earth’s atmosphere have sparked renewed interest in algae production, in the hope that they may come to the rescue of our planet once more. This proposal for Solar Park South aims to contribute in these efforts against global warming. It envisages the creation of a new eco-system consisting of algae farming through photo-bioreactors, scientific research laboratories, and ecological and medicinal tourism. The new park strives to stimulate both the economy and the ecology of Calabria, by turning it into an ecological attraction complete with an algae park, algae spa, and scientific research laboratories. The advantages of algae production are numerous, from CO2 sequestration to waste water purification, from the production of a wide range of bio-fuels to ingredients in pharmaceutical products and cosmetics.
¶ The park follows a modular construction approach starting with an array of new public lighting fixtures dotted along the coastline and a central bioreactor hanging garden on Favazzina viaduct, a true eco-lighthouse for the region. The chief socio-economic gains take place upon the decommissioned highway where horizontal algae bioreactors are installed on the road and viaducts, whilst research laboratories are built inside the numerous tunnels where a more controlled environment for the study of algae can take place. Responsible tourism is encouraged through the conversion of specific tunnels into algae spas and baths, information centers, as well as a public walk over the Favazzina viaduct: the centre point of a new ecosystem of hanging algae gardens and horizontal bioreactors, where at night, one can gaze out onto the unique flickering green lights of the algae street lamps linking the park, Bagnara, Favazzina, and Scilla as one unique performative solar garden.