14 The Topography of Memory: Alberto Ponis's Casa Scalesciani in Costa Paradiso, Sardinia

The terrain covering the Earth's surface bears witness to the transformations that have altered its appearance. Sometimes, such changes are the result of human beings putting their interests before preservation of the landscape. As of the 1950s, the coasts of northern Sardinia were reshaped by the arrival of a European elite seeking out a new holiday destination. Tourist complexes and infrastructures were erected to meet the needs of these travellers, and it was not unusual for their designs to show a total lack of consideration for their surroundings. Other resorts followed the principles of a new architectural movement, the 'smeraldino' style, which imported an idealized vision of fishing villages that went against the region's local architectural style. The Genoese architect Alberto Ponis took the opposite tack, blending his designs for holiday retreats on the north coast of Sardinia in with their environment. This study presents Ponis's Casa Scalesciani (1977) as a model of landscape preservation that domesticates its setting on a steep cliff with a succession of embedded platforms that follow the receding slope of the terrain.