Breathing New Life into an Evocative Salt Mine: A Landscape Journey with Snøhetta at YACademy

Courtesy of Yacademy

Blurring the boundaries between surface and underground, The In-between Scape and Transitorre boldly reimagine the Petralia Soprana Salt Mine as a meeting point of contrasts—where education blends with leisure, nature with architecture, and visitors become part of the story. These visionary projects, born from YACademy’s Architecture for Landscape program, use bold forms and innovative materials to spark a dialogue between people and place, transforming the mine into an immersive and deeply connected experience. Drawing on a decade of expertise in designing within extraordinary natural sites, the program offers a unique educational journey into meaningful, context-driven architecture.

Throughout the course, Yacademy aims to train professional designers capable of intervening in astonishing and monumental natural contexts. Through an extensive program of lec­tures by master architects, exclusive site visits, hands-on workshops, and design reviews, designers will become more and more able to reconnect human design to the natural environment and be inspired by landscape to design outstanding, sustainable and impressive architectures. Moreover, the program guarantees an internship in a well-renowned architectural firm.

Working on a unique subterranean landscape in the heart of Sicily with one of Europe’s most acclaimed architecture studios would be a dream for any architect passionate about landscape. For the students of the latest edition of Yacademy’s Architecture for Landscape course, this dream became reality. As workshop tutor, Yacademy selected Patrick Lüth, director of the Austrian branch of Snøhetta, who guided the students in reimagining a disused quarry in the hills of Petralia Soprana, deep in the heart of Sicily. A superlative site of complex beauty, the quarry is a surreal environment—an alien landscape capable of abstracting the visitor from both time and space.

Yacademy’s students therefore had the opportunity to measure themselves against the mystery of an underground land­scape, a contemporary result of industrial activities, and one of the most singular and evoc­ative contexts on the planet. Their final projects really matched these premises.

Courtesy of YacademyCourtesy of Yacademy

“The In-between Scape” project, proposed by Hadeel Ayed, Vera Glazeva, and Woranitta Sukwattanasombat, revolves around balance and connection between opposites and dwells in the void left by the surface and the underground. Here, the “In-between Scape” emerges as a bridge connecting the existing programs and the outside of the salt mine, through the introduction of new functional spaces that offer both educational and recreational activities. By integrating the three distinct zones in a creative way, the project aims at collectively enhancing the existing Petralia Soprana Salt Mine, including defining boundaries, a main entrance, light pillars, and functional volumes like indoor galleries, workshops, a sculpture garden, and a restaurant.

“The In-between Scape”, a project by Hadeel Ayed, Vera Glazeva, and Woranitta Sukwattanasombat“The In-between Scape”, a project by Hadeel Ayed, Vera Glazeva, and Woranitta Sukwattanasombat“The In-between Scape”, a project by Hadeel Ayed, Vera Glazeva, and Woranitta Sukwattanasombat“The In-between Scape”, a project by Hadeel Ayed, Vera Glazeva, and Woranitta Sukwattanasombat“The In-between Scape”, a project by Hadeel Ayed, Vera Glazeva, and Woranitta Sukwattanasombat

Another proposal envisioned a focal point to catalyze human interaction and dialogue between the environment and its users. Taking the form of a tower, “Transitorre”, the project by Luis Castro, Ingridth Hopp, and Taryn Traest, includes a pathway leading to a piazza, a visitor centre, and a distinctive tower, collectively providing an immersive experience for visitors. The design includes innovative materials such as horizontal steel studs, steel cables, and salt panels, creating a unique salt facade that acts as both a filter and an aesthetic feature, enhancing the environmental interaction of the structure.

“Transitorre”, a project by Luis Castro, Ingridth Hopp, and Taryn Traest“Transitorre”, a project by Luis Castro, Ingridth Hopp, and Taryn Traest“Transitorre”, a project by Luis Castro, Ingridth Hopp, and Taryn Traest

The next edition of the Architecture for Landscape course has just been launched and will once again offer selected young architects the opportunity to work on a real design challenge in collaboration with a renowned international firm. This time, the workshop will focus on the re-functionalization and preservation of Asinara Park in Sardinia. The workshop tutor for the new edition will be Andreas Fries, Partner at Herzog & de Meuron. Functional to the workshop theme, stu­dents will be given the opportunity to vis­it the Asinara Park, in order to gather inspiration and references for the development of their own project.

Learn more about the course details here.