翁布里亚人之海丨意大利丨Paolo Belardi

Firm： Paolo Belardi

Type： Cultural › Observation Tower Pavilion Landscape + Planning › Public Park Playground Waterway/Wetland Masterplan Transport + Infrastructure › Marina and Ports Bicycles

STATUS： Concept

SIZE： 1,000,000 +

Umbria is the heart of Italy. Even more rooted in its land than the border regions, it relies only on small rivers and on a single lake: a thin veil of water spread over a meadow, Lake Trasimeno.

Despite its unique, almost laminar nature, Umbria has always turned necessity into virtue. Its 128 square kilometers of surface and 45 kilometers of shoreline define a lake of contrasts: hydraulically modest yet rich in fish, seemingly calm yet suddenly stormy, mild in climate yet sometimes freezing. Three lush islands rise from its waters, making Trasimeno the “sea of the Umbrians”, a poetic substitute for the absence of a coastline.

For centuries, the lake’s shallow depth kept its banks swampy, discouraging residential development. Only with the creation of an artificial drainage system and the expansion of its catchment basin did human settlement begin along its shores.

In the early twentieth century, long wooden piers allowed people to bathe without disturbing the lake’s natural balance. Later, however, reckless dredging destroyed the reed beds, replacing them with marinas and artificial sandy beaches crowded with umbrellas and pedal boats.

Today, the project seeks to restore Trasimeno’s natural harmony without denying its identity or the Umbrian desire for swimming and sailing. The masterplan proposes three synergic actions: completing the cycling path around the lake, removing sandy beaches to revive native habitats, and reimagining the piers by transforming them into “dock-piers” and “bathing-piers.”

These new structures, shaped by the sinuous lines and woven textures of traditional lake fishing tools, chestnut wood frames, reed coverings, and “martavello” fishing nets, become true extensions of the land. Here, architecture has no volume, only presence: vantage points that frame the rolling Umbrian hills, transforming Lake Trasimeno from the “sea of the Umbrians” into the “sea for the Umbrians.”