On July 1, 2025, the conference “Landscape Regeneration in Industrialized Areas,” a moment of discussion among experts on the future of brownfields in Italy, was held at the Castle of Piombino. Among the protagonists of the meeting was architect Marco Casamonti, founder of Archea Associati, who illustrated the emblematic case of the former Enel power plant in Piombino, now the focus of an ambitious landscape and functional transformation project.

Casamonti emphasized how the demolition of the iconic smokestacks in October 2023 marked a symbolic and concrete transition from the invasive verticality of industry to a new horizontality in the landscape. “The Salt Tower,” he said, “returns today as a recognizable and measured sign, in balance with the coastal environment, while the territory opens up to a new tourist and natural vocation.

The project, entrusted to Archea by the San Nicola company, involves 64 hectares destined for accommodations and public spaces, with the aim of restoring environmental quality to an area that for decades had a strongly industrial impact. Another 56 hectares will be completely renaturalized, in an operation that Casamonti describes as “not just design, but cultural,” capable of inspiring new regeneration models on a national scale.

The intervention represents one of the most advanced experiences of redevelopment in Italy and demonstrates how collaboration between the public and private sectors can generate new, sustainable and identity-based landscapes.