Return to Sorrento, Return O Tower
type
Heritage Reuse
location
Punta della Campanella, Italy
year
2025
Collaborators
Sayyoung Chang + Sujeong Koo
Reviving the Minerva Tower transforms the abandoned historic watchtower at Punta della Campanella, on the edge of the Sorrento Peninsula, into an artists’ residency and a new cultural landmark along the coast. The proposal preserves the existing masonry and symbolic presence of the tower while reinterpreting its former role as a structure of observation and maritime signaling.
Studios and exhibition spaces occupy the tower, while artists’ living quarters are placed on the open ground behind it. A Savonius-type vertical-axis wind turbine and a lighthouse are added above, using the strong coastal winds to generate energy for both the residency and the beacon. The existing front terrace is expanded into a public stage for performances and exhibitions, allowing the tower to retain its historical memory while gaining a continuous cultural life within the surrounding community.
The Minerva Tower, located at Punta della Campanella on the edge of the Sorrento Peninsula, has stood for centuries against wind and sea, serving as a sentinel on the cliff that signaled danger. The purpose of this reuse proposal is to honor the tower’s historical and symbolic significance while presenting a realistic strategy for bringing an abandoned structure back into use. The project seeks to revive the site’s historical memory, reintegrating the tower into the coastal system and adapting it into an artists’ residency to ensure its continuous life.
The idea is to respect the symbolic meaning and form of the past, while layering new programs that allow it to function today. The existing masonry will be carefully restored to recover its original presence, and upon it, the tower’s former functions will be reinterpreted. A vertical-axis wind turbine will be installed at the top to harness the strong coastal winds, and above it, a lighthouse will once again take on the role of maritime signaling. The energy produced will sustain the operation of both the lighthouse and the artists’ residency in a self-sufficient cycle.
To secure structural stability, four new columns have been introduced inside the tower to support the lighthouse and wind turbine, reinforcing the existing structure. A spiral staircase connects the levels, enabling ease of movement throughout. Considering the tower’s limited interior, the artists’ living quarters will be established in the open ground to the rear, while the interior of the tower will house studios and exhibition spaces, making it a center of cultural creation. The front terrace is extended and reinforced, transforming into a public stage for outdoor performances and exhibitions, and becoming a platform for cultural exchange with nearby towns.
The site where the tower rises is intertwined with the legend of the Sirens, evoked in the lyrics of “Torna a Surriento”, a place where sailors were always caught between allure and fear. Yet the lighthouse added to the tower now becomes a beacon for those navigating in darkness, carrying the past into a new narrative of safety. Thus, the Minerva Tower is revived at the intersection of history, myth, and contemporary function, standing once more as a landmark on the edge of the Mediterranean.
