At the most remote point of south-western Sardinia, where silence has the sound of the wind and the light rests slow on the dunes, there is a place suspended between nature, memory and vision. The Piscinas dunes is a sensory and cultural experience that intertwines landscape, mining history and contemporary art in a story of absolute beauty
by Elena Barassi
In Sardinia there is a remote and poignant place, where the desert meets the sea, and the wind writes Arabesques among the highest dunes in Europe. It is here, on the green coast, that stands The Piscinas dunesa hotel that enchants, seduces, says. Its foundations rest on memory. Those ancient structures, which today welcome guests from all over the world, were once the warehouses of the ingurtosu mines, the nineteenth -century bulwark of the British extractive industry in Sardinia. In the eighties, Sergio Carolithe son of the last director of the site, sensed the poetic vocation of these spaces and made a refuge for wandering spirits, pioneers of a slow, conscious tourism. After his retirement, the vision was collected by Luigi Caccamo And Marcella Tettoniwho kept the original soul of the hotel, intertwining it with a new contemporary sensitivity. The renovation has respected every architectural and landscape constraint, while the project was enriched with an unexpected element: art.
The art that lives the dunes
The real genius loci of the structure manifests itself in its art collectionnot ostentatious, but widespread with grace between corridors, lounges and rooms. The canvases of Alessandro Papettithe suspended geometries of Shafikthe material signs of Enzo Esposito They coexist with the changing light that filters between the dunes. Some works have been designed specifically for some spaces, such as the site-specific creations of Medhat Shafikwho seem to dialogue with the mineral silence of the landscape and the large canvas of Alessandro Papetti depicting the Lord Brassy Laveria who welcomes the guests, once the threshold has been crossed. The same Red Red Restaurant Sunset, covered with urban and vegetable murals of Federico Carta (Crisa Studio)you do open -air gallery. This integration between art and the environment helps to create a unique experience, in which you feel immersed in the beauty and history of the Verd coastAnd.
Author suite, infinite view
The rooms open on the landscape as pages of a secret diary. Distributed between historical environments and new volumes, they overlook the dunes or the sea. Here the stylistic figure is whispered luxury, designed by local marble, wrought iron and wood furnishings, Sardinian decorations and fabrics and design pieces. All essential, almost not to disturb the beauty that enters the windows. Of great visual impact, in the Suite 18, the work “The guardian of love“By the Nubian artist of Egyptian origins Fathi Hassan, famous for his paintings and designs with deliberately illegible Arab writing, which highlight the ambiguity of language and form. But it is in Master Suite Lady Idina, inside which there is a precious work of Enzo Esposito, that the story becomes more intense. Entitled to the wife of Lord Brassyan ancient figure linked to the mineral property of the late 19th century, this suite of 90 sqm overlooking the sea, consisting of a living room, private spa, panoramic terrace with swimming pool with countercurrent swimming, whirlpool and teak beds, is a refined microcosm where you can feel part of a story that still breathes between the waves and the wind.
Red sunset and geckles: between art, taste and marine poetry
When the sun goes down to touch the golden dunes, it is the moment when the gourmet experience of Red sunset. Open only in the evening, this intimate and visionary restaurant proves to be a living scenography, in which the open cuisine is stage of refined show cooking, while the large convivial table, sculpted by a single majestic wooden table, invites to slow and sensitive sharing. During the day, the rhythm becomes milder but no less sophisticated toAmerican Bar i Gechielegant refuge of shadow and freshness. It is accessed from the hall, passing under a wrought iron arch that recalls the juniper beaten by the wind, and introduces an environment in which the Sardinian artisan design, intertwined straw, oak, mariantonia Urru fabrics, merges with the sober comfort of the neutral and welcoming armchairs. The dehors, on the square that opens on the beach, is the ideal place to let yourself be enchanted by sunset with a Darkroot Garden In hand, a cocktail with smoked and terrose notes, with Tequila, Mezcal, beetroot and grapefruit, capable of telling the fascinating soul of Piscinas in a sip.
Relaxed times
The experience at Le Dune Piscinas goes far beyond hospitality. It is an exercise in immersion in the landscapes of the soul between meditative walks along the beach, quad explorations on the mining slopes, suspended afternoons between spa and golden dunes. With Annamaria Steri founding the Museum of agri -food traditions of Sardinia And Agrichef Annalisa Atzeni, ambassador of Sardinian culture, all the secrets of the Lorighittas are discovered, pasta intertwined by origin, Tlaying, totally handmade by hand, without the use of equipment, just like in the past centuries. While the most famous native vines in the region are discovered in the cellar. There is no lack of a Outdoor cinemaone library dedicated to Sardinia and one discretewhich invites to recollection. Everything is designed to feed not only the body, but also the soul.