Tempio Pausania, Sardinia
Sala Una
No better space than a mediterranean place
No better space than a mediterranean place
D2M Sala-una is an unfinished symphony. The island Sardinia, the people of Gallura and the citizens of Tempio Pausania are waiting like I do on organizations with the spirit and commitment of the Avaaz organizations in order to work together for the establishment of Sala-una. The spirit of the Sardinian people will be helpful in the transformation of our societies and Europe alike. Sala-una could become a beacon for youngster and the so called lost generation of the sixties and seventies to re-inspire the citizens of Europe to enter a united Europe, and through Europe the other continents.
Invitation
There is no reasonable society, but there is always a more reasonable society possible than the existing one; the status quo is not ideal but the only point of departure for a better future.
~Sir Karl Popper
This letter is an invitation to those women and men who feel the need to make a difference in the world of today and are financially capable to do so.
Times of crises are the outcome of profound transformations. In which directions, depends more than ever of the ideas and the values people embrace, their arguments or lack of arguments for doing so, and the rationality of their arguments.
SALA-UNA exists as a virtual space. If you visit my site and you take some time off for the Library or Projects, e.g. Travels, you might get an impression how SALA-UNA as a real place in the Sardinian landscape near Tempio could vibrate. Sardinian singers are famous for the art of overtone singing. It is a rare experience to be cleansed by their sound. The same happens in debates and dialogues, or tasting the food of the island and their Mediterranean surroundings.
Sardinia saw the Phoenicians at their Western coastline, 1000 years BCE. The same with the Carthagenians; the Barcelonese… the list is too long.
Sardinia and Tempio Pausania, a city with memories of 2000 years, welcome you.
Inspired by the downfall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, we took the initiative to establish Forum 2001 Foundation: a platform for debate and dialogue in the 21st century.
The municipality of Tempio Pausania, Galluria, Sardinia and Forum 2001 signed a contract for 99 years in which the Foundation rents a location of 100.000 m2. In close collaboration with Forum 2001 Foundation and the municipality of Tempio Pausania, architect Michele Saee, Los Angeles, designed SALA-UNA as a space and a place that unfolds from the landscape with an amphitheatre for its guests and the local community.
For general info read further on this page below. If you are interested, please mail to [email protected]. Your questions will be dealt with utmost care.
D2M Sala-una distinguishes itself by:
- its 21st century architecture;
- the highest quality in style, functionality and leisure;
- its positive relationship with the local and regional culture;
- its focus on the cultural unification of Europe, the Mediterranean cultural space, and the effects of globalisation on value systems worldwide;
- a permanent presence of creative, talented guests, occupying a Chair (“Chair Resident”) carrying the name of the sponsoring company (“Chair Holders”);
- face to face contact with lecturers worldwide through video-phone/webcam;
- all year round programmes with internationally known scholars, artists, politicians, economists, ecologists, writers, musicians, poets, philosophers and spiritual leaders. Certain programmes are designed for distribution by internet.
Tempio Pausania
Forum 2001 has been offered a location on Sardinia. Sala-una, named after a small mountain river, is situated near Tempio Pausania, Sardinia. The location of 10 ha. borders on 20.000 ha. of unspoilt-nature. The choice of Sardinia was prompted by her strategic position during thousands of years within the “cultural space” of the Mediterranean while being now the border of the European Union, and by her cultural vitality.
During her millennia-old history, Sardinia has absorbed various influences into her own tradition. It exemplifies a process of acculturation and integration that takes place on a world-wide scale in the 21st century. By choosing Sardinia, Forum 2001 gives a signal to the future guests of Sala-una that an ‘open society’ is the nucleus of her vision, and that past and future may well exist together.
D2M Sala-una has been designed by architect Michele Saee (L.A., Paris and Beijing). 
Michele Saee designed a Centre that unfolds into the landscape, becoming part of it owing to its curves and to the interaction between indoor and outdoor spaces, including an amphitheatre. Apart from conference facilities, the resort contains hotel rooms and quarters for artists and writers in residence. The Centre aims to generate exchanges between the different target groups: corporate managers and executives, NGO’s, university faculties, academies – who may use the Centre for conferences, managemant training and so on – individual scholars and artists involved in the Centre’s special courses, and tourists. (Hans Ibelings, in A10 # 2 new European architecture march/april 2005 p.15. Click on the image above for an enlarged version of the article.)
“Sala-una could become a laboratory for a new European renascence.” – Edo Dijksterhuis in Het Financieele Dagblad (The Financial Journal), August 27, 2005.