Team: Alessandro Moriconi, Paolo Belardi

Video: Alessandra Aglietti

VoiceOver: Emanuela Faraglia

Recording studio: SVR Studio

Place: Lake Trasimeno

Despite its shallow nature and the resulting variability in water levels, Lake Trasimeno—with its 128 square kilometers of swimmable surface enclosed by a 45-kilometer shoreline—has long been known as “Il mare degli Umbri” meaning “the Umbrian sea”.
It has historically compensated for the region’s chronic lack of easy access to both the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas.

Until the first half of the 20th century, swimming in the lake was made possible through the construction of long wooden piers that extended the land-water threshold into the lake, without compromising its spontaneous natural setting.
However, in the second half of the 20th century, the shoreline was subjected to indiscriminate dredging, which erased the reed beds and replaced them with a fragmented system of small marinas for sailboats and a long list of beach resorts characterized by artificial stretches of sand, lined with equally artificial rows of umbrellas and pedal boats.

Aiming to restore the lake’s natural landscape without disregarding local identity—nor denying either its nautical or bathing aspirations—the design proposal is synthesized in a masterplan articulated through four actions:

1. Removal of artificial sandy beaches to restore the lake’s original wetland habitat;

2. Completion of the existing bike paths, enabling sustainable circumnavigation of the lake;

3. Reorganization of marinas to minimize their environmental impact;

4. Reuse of old piers, to allow sunbathing and swimming. These new baths will be made using materials traditionally employed by local artisans: treated chestnut wood for structural elements, lake reeds, and martavello-style fishing nets for the cladding.