A new lighthouse would probably be a fitting memorial to the 2012 sinking of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy. Open-idea competition platform matterbetter has been running a contest to design a new lighthouse concept to live at the spot where the ship capsized, and while the entries aren’t realistic, they’re sure pretty to look at.
First place went to the Concordia Lightscape, a design which uses lines of increasing thickness to show where land turns into sea. At night, the structure is illuminated by nearly 1000m of horizontal light panels, powered by solar cells.
Second place goes to the Silent Compass, a design that looks far more like a conventional lighthouse, although far prettier.
Third place is Catharsis, an alien abduction movie poster/Batman-style light beam:
The long path goes slowly under the sea, then connects to a large horizontal water circle floating on the sea where visitors can rest with feet in the water. The light-beam glowing vertically from the centre of circle connecting the sea and the sky, is strong and dramatic. Only the light appears in the landscape (everything is hidden or horizontal) instead of the usual vertical architecture.
Although those are the three winners, the rest of the entries are equally zany and spectacular, and well worth a browse.
[MatterBetter via ArchDaily]