SALT BANK

THE TASK

1 THE SALT PANS

Sečovlje Salina Nature Park covers about 750 ha along the Slovene-Croatian boundary in the
extreme southwestern part of Slovenia, in the southern part of the Community of Piran. Its northern
part, where active salt-making is still taking place, is called Lera. From the Park's southern part, called
Fontanigge, it is separated by the bed of the Drnica stream.
The Fontanigge is full of large basins which, however, are being gradually overgrown by the
characteristic salt-loving vegetation – halophytes. The basins are crisscrossed by the system of
ancient levees, amongst which mostly the larger ones have been preserved. Along the wide channels,
the former salt-pan houses are scattered, which with their characteristic appearance co-create the
truly unique image of the salina landscape. The main freshwater vein is the Dragonja river, which after
few tens of kilometers of its course joins the sea at the Sečovlje salt-pans.
At Fontanigge, salt-harvesting was abandoned in the 1960s, but the tradition of salt-making, which
originates from the 14th century, is still practiced within the Museum of Salt-making. Here, each salt-
field used to constitute an independent salt-pan with its own basins for seawater condensation and
crystallization.
At Lera (still »active« pans), the salt-fields used for the crystallization of salt are separated from the
fields used for condensation of seawater (evaporation basins). The difference between the two
procedures of salt-making therefore lies in the technological process, associated with the preparation
of brine, harvest and storage of salt, and in very diverse implements. Their common characteristics,
however, lie in the fact that at Fontanigge and Lera the salters cultivate, on the bottom of salt-fields,
the so-called petola, a special type of biosediment that prevents sea mud from merging with salt and
at the same time restrains separate ions from building in salt.

2 THE GOAL

The goal of "The Salt-pan House" competition was to stop further ruin of one of the remaining salt-pan houses while using a new intervention to form a spatial model of cultural heritage preservation in the southern area of the
salt-pans. 50 years ago, when salt-making was abandoned, there were more than a hundred houses
standing in the southern part. Today, only around seventy ruins remain, reminding us of the once key
economic activity in Piran. Heritage preservation always demands a new intervention, albeit small.
The chosen ruin meant an opportunity for a fresh take on the balance between the preservation of
cultural and natural heritage; so that it may become a self-confident model for a restored co-existence with
cultural and natural heritage in the European sense.

Participants were to use cross-laminated timber panels (CLT) as the main material for the structure.

OUR ANSWER

BANK [noun 1] "financial institution", late 15th century, originally "money dealers' counter or shop", from either Old Italian banca or Middle French banque, both meaning "table", from a Germanic source (such as Old High German bank meaning "bench", "moneylender's table"), from Proto-Germanic *bankiz –"shelf", *bankon – see BANK [noun 2]. The etymological notion is the moneylender's exchange table.

BANK [noun 2] "natural earthen incline bordering a body of water", c. 1200, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse *banki, Old Danish banke "sandbank", from Proto-Germanic *bankon "slope", cognate with *bankiz "shelf" (see BENCH [noun]). Also "rising ground in a sea or shoal rover", from c. 1600. And "bench for rowers in an ancient galley", from the 1590s.

SALT BANK

The word bank likely comes from the Italian word for bench – "banco", as the first banks were benches in Italian trading centers.

The suggestion of our entry is a process and an economic model, that provides an opportunity to support the remaining salt pan houses, the local museum and the nature park by civilians. The core element of the initiation is one of the salt variations of the PIRANSKE SOLINE product family sold in paper roll packs. We propose to change the current paper rolls' plastic caps to bungs cut from CLT panels and marked with printed new logos derived from the present brand. Buying this pronounced pack of salt with an increased price by 1 unit, customers could financially support the Musej Solinarstva (local museum), the Krajinski Park Sečoveljske Soline (nature park) and all the preservation work in order to save the remaining salt pan buildings of deteriorating condition. In our beliefs this action could become even more likable if the state contributed with a definite amount of money to the 1-unit extra income from these special salt packs.

Cutting cylinder bungs from the 6 cm thick CLT panels, the remaining perforated panels would serve as benches, having been adjusted to a chosen size. Zero-waste, no plastic. The benches, made from all the available amount of CLT could be placed not only at the competition site but elsewhere, too, like in front of the PIRANSKE SOLINE shops in Piran or Ljubljana, or even in the MoMA in New York.

Installing benches in the salt-land, just as anywhere else, is a minimalistic intervention, yet characteristic. It won't change the milieu of the area, while the seats, providing a chance for a short break, may enable visitors to deepen in the landscape to a fuller extent. Placed in an urban context, the benches would function as elements of the new brand (Salt Bank) and gain publicity. The intervention could win people's sympathy, popularize the salt-land and increase the touristic value of the area. Product tying is created by the bungs, the perforated seats, and the thin bench legs reminding of wading birds.