ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF “PRAÇA NOVA DO CASTELO DE SÃO JORGE” LISBON, PORTUGAL

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awarded with the “piranesi prix de rome” in 2010
this intervention addressed the themes of protection, revelation and readability. first, the clear delimitation of the site with a membrane of corten steel to contain the higher perimetrical surface, allowing both access and a panoramic view of the site. stepping down to the site, a hovering structure protects the existing mosaics, its underside covered in a black mirror that allows the visitor to see reflected the vertical perspective of the pavements. for the protection of the eleventh century muslim domestic structures and its frescoes was taken as an opportunity to reproduce, through conjectural interpretation, its spacial experience as a series of independent rooms arranged around a patio that introduced light and ventilation into an otherwise exteriorly isolated dwelling. the evidence of the iron age settlement is exposed and protected trough a self-contained volume that extends from the perimetrical corten walls to embrace the depth necessary to its revelation. the experience is construed by its material protection and musealization.