Photos: FG+SG – Fotografia de Arquitectura
The project's brief requested the conservation and valorization of the castle of the mountainous village of Castelo Novo and its surrounding area. It suggested the creation of a space where people and visitors could enjoy it both as a place of permanence and transient contemplation. To answer these demands, the design solution created a built figure without a rigid boundary, organic, working independently of the existing structures but using them as a support. The construction was designed as a continuous object that changes with the characteristics of the site. While in the church's square it acts as a volume defining the limits, in the interior of the Castle's walls, its shape is transformed into a pavement layer with ramps and stairs creating a pedestrian pathway which is suspended from the ground by metallic structure. This solution allows the visitors to admire the archeological findings without damaging them. The pathway finishes in the castle's Main Tower where a "steel box" was inserted in its interior containing a multimedia room.
This box allows also the creation of a platform where visitors can enjoy a panoramic view of the landscape. All the construction was made using lightweight metal structures which can allow a clear distinction of the new object from the existing structures and, at the same time, the reversibility of the operation.

Bibliography

Full photo coverage of this project on the site of FG+SG Architectural Photography.
On Print:
Arquitectura Ibérica, 30, “Reabilitação / Rehabilitación”, Fev. 2009 Caleidoscópio, Casal de Cambra.
IV Premio de Arquitectura Ascensores ENOR. Ascensores ENOR, Vigo, 2009.
Habitar Portugal 2006-2008. Ordem dos Arquitectos, Lisboa, 2009.
08-09 Yearbook Arquitectura em Portugal. Workmedia, Lisboa, 2009.
Architectural Review, 1360, June 2010, pp. 72-75.
Online: 
Published online in e-architect; a barriga de um arquitecto, 08-01-2010; ArchDaily, 09-03-2010; dezeen. design magazine,  23-04-2010; Plataforma Arquitectura, 03-05-2012.

Prizes / Awards

Finalist in the ENOR Prize 2009, granted by Grupo Ascensores Enor.