Lungovalle Sant'Eligio
Location: Martina Franca, IT
Year: 2025
Type: International Competition, 1st prize
Status: Completed
Team: Maria Vittoria Tesei, Flavio Martella, Antonella Marlene Milano, Claudia Marciano, Emanuele Manigrasso, Riccardo Barletta
The urban regeneration project for the Sant'Eligio district, named “Lungovalle Sant’Eligio" (Sant’Eligio Valley Promenade), is a strategic vision operating on multiple scales. Its core ambition is the reconnection of the recent urban expansion of Martina Franca with the profound landscape context of the Valle d’Itria and the residual natural elements, primarily the existing Sant'Eligio urban woodland.
This project represents a crucial intervention aimed at bridging the urban environment with the surrounding rural landscape, establishing the Lungovalle as the structuring element of a wider ecological-territorial system. Located along the eastern edge of the inhabited area, the district acts as a crucial hinge, offering a unique opportunity for softening the boundary between the built and natural worlds, integrating the dense urban fabric with the rural context.
The strategic nature of the proposal stems from its capacity to simultaneously address diverse needs: ecological, through the creation of a green corridor; social, with the implementation of inclusive public spaces; and cultural, through the enhancement of the landscape heritage.
The vision is translated into action through three complementary design strategies: targeted urban interventions, the development of the Lungovalle itself (the continuous landscaped promenade), and the creation of physical and functional connections between these two contexts. This approach ensures the maximum impact, ultimately seeking to confer a new, distinct identity to the entire district, improving the quality of life for residents and creating a new locus of interest aligned with principles of sustainable development.
