Offering breathtaking views of the Mediterranean Sea, Mareterra, also known as Anse du Portier and Le Portier, is Monaco’s newest district. This bold and ambitious project, a six-hectare land extension into the sea, marks a significant step in Monaco’s urban development. Expanding the state’s surface area by almost 3%, it encompasses luxury residences, a modern marina and extensive public spaces, in a project that seeks a sensitive balance between innovation, sustainability and respect for the marine environment.
Mareterra is a new community of residential, cultural and recreational spaces that celebrates the spirit of the Mediterranean, where architecture and nature integrate perfectly. The waterfront promenade – hugging the coastline from the new port to the Grimaldi Forum and the Larvotto beach – is a gentle gesture that guides the gaze along the horizon, offering residents and visitors an immersive sensory experience.
The master plan, the work of Valode & Pistre Architectes in collaboration with Renzo Piano Building Workshop, expresses a vision in which topography, function and landscape interact naturally, making light – both natural and artificial – a defining design element.
Lighting is conceived as a discreet, robust and perfectly integrated presence. Along the promenade’s concrete balustrade, Rio 2.0 linear profiles by Luce&Light trace a continuous, homogeneous line of light: a warm, diffuse glow that steers strollers, reflects on the water and reinforces the sense of continuity with the sea. Its uniform output follows elevation changes, highlights the geometry of steps and terraces, and establishes an uninterrupted visual connection along the entire path.
Developed for marine environments, Rio 2.0 features stainless steel end caps and fastenings, and silicone rubber O-rings with anti-ageing treatment, ensuring maximum durability. Their light is distributed evenly and discreetly, guiding without glare and allowing the sea and the architecture to capture the eye.
Rectangular openings within the balustrade frame snippets of sea and sky, animated by Bright 2.4 recessed fixtures. Integrated into the vertical niches, these step-lights illuminate internal surfaces with a soft, controlled light, transforming recesses into luminous cut-outs that punctuate the promenade. With stainless steel trims, and IP68/IP69 and IK10 ratings, they deliver outstanding performance even in the presence of salt spray, humidity and mechanical stress.
The result is a lighting scheme that follows the rhythm of the sea. Light connects unobtrusively, linking architectural geometries with the shifting surface of the water and transforming the promenade into a path suspended between matter and the horizon.