In 2010, along the Roman coastline, in Fiumicino, the foundation stone was laid for the construction of a harbour. The works continued for several years before coming to a halt. In 2022, the concession for the development of the port was awarded at auction to Fiumicino Waterfront (part of the Royal Caribbean Group), which subsequently integrated a specific cruise function into the original project.

The entire area concerned lies within a delicate context of great landscape, historical, and social value. The presence of a lighthouse, the bilancioni (wooden fishing structures), and a small fishing harbor make this place particularly evocative. Framing it all are the Tiber River, the residential area of Passo della Sentinella, and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) — a stretch of land characterized by a brackish marsh that constitutes an environmental asset of European interest.

These images aim to show the context into which a major project such as a cruise port would be inserted. A place where scenes seem to echo through time, shaking it; a place where people intermingle, each at once both foreign and native, bound together by the land itself. A place that twists your mouth into a grimace and then leaves it open in wonder, as it tells a story of conflict between sea and concrete that slowly erodes the heritage beneath the feet of the elderly and of children.

Are we truly convinced that there are projects worth accepting the disappearance of places with unique characteristics — places we have no possibility of finding elsewhere?

Do we truly believe there are no longer any limits? Are we really prepared to strip ourselves of everything, failing in our responsibility to preserve the Earth we have enjoyed, and depriving future generations of the chance to do the same?

The entire area has been living in a state of suspension for over ten years.

Isola Sacra, Fiumicino, Rome, Italy.