Porto d'Ischia: porto non porto. Da cratere vulcanico a lago, ad approdo, a nodo di traffico

The Port of Ischia is an introverted space, a closed natural body of water. It remained as such until 1854, the year it was transformed from a lake into a port by removing a section of land to connect it with the open sea. The edges of this volcanic crater were occupied over time by a mantle of discontinuous constructions, from which three monumental elements that speak to the history of the island emerge: the church of Portosalvo, the Ancient Municipal Baths and the Palazzo d’Ambra. This important historic and environmental space was gradually modified as a consequence of Ischia’s development from an “island of land”, dedicated primarily to agricultural activities, to an “island at sea”, devoted to the sale of its products, to tourism and bathing activities. While maintaining their original typological-morphological characteristics, the spatial qualities of the constructions defining the perimeter of the port were altered by their forced adaptation to needs dictated by a surplus of activities and traffic. For decades the port of Ischia has been the principal hub of the many connections and activities linking the island with the mainland. This has produced a state of degradation whose only possible remedy lies in the selection of the activities that take place here, and the consequent decommissioning and/or delocalisation of those that are not compatible to other landing points on the island, to be opportunely upgraded. The text presents a hypothesis for the regeneration of the port of Ischia through the redesign of its perimeter and the refurbishment of its three most representative constructions. Beginning with the unavoidable hypothesis to render its perimeter pedestrian, the proposal redefines the function of the port within a broader vision for the entire island, re-proposing its original unity and role as a showcase for the island: a space of memories and suggestions in which it is possible to understand the history that generated the extraordinary geo-morphological episode presented by the island of Ischia.