The project Art Prison for the Santa Caterina Castle in Favignana in Sicily is a refurbishment project which consists of a museum, an art hotel, ateliers for artists and a restaurant. This program is settled within the old castle walls. Instead of creating a new building, we open up the existing castle and giving it back to the community by creating a complex spacital interior sculpture, which opens to the sky and brings the light down in the solid mass.

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The concept is based on 3 principles:- RESPECT the existing structure and landscape- STRATIFICATION of Christian and Arabic history- CONTINUE building with minimal cuts and volumetric implants

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We break the solidity and hermetic unity of the castle and thus combine art and hotel. You live with art. You live in the art! The concept is a layering and condensing of history. The history of the castle is closely linked to an architectural mixture of Christian and Muslim influence.

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Within the tradition of refurbishment, renovation, extention, modification and reorganisation, the design concept can be seen as compostion within the opposites of harmonies and discords between natural and artificial, ancient and contemporary. The innovative mix of „old“ (tuff) and „new“ (regional mined marble) creates an inspirational atmosphere for artists and visitors and has the potential to great one of the most renowned artistic reflections centers of the international scenario.