Date: 2009/...

Location: Lisbon, Portugal

Area: 52.000 sqm

Competition 1^st Prize, with João Gomes da Silva

Project Coordinators:
João Ferreira Nunes, Carlos Ribas

Project Collaborators:
Ana Marques, Miguel Coelho de Sousa, Magda Gonçalves, Bernardo Faria, Mafalda Silva, Nuno Jacinto, Sílvia Basílio

Architecture:
Miguel Chalbert

Speciality:
Consulmar
Centro de História de Além Mar

The Ribeira das Naus site is a mythical site in the national and local identity. Partially produced by the collective imaginary, partially by the official culture. The myth is linked to the naval plant that operated on this site, and that throughout centuries produced various types of boats. The myth articulates the certainty of the Vessel production with the possibility of considering these as protagonists of the discovery of the universal routes, and of a first globalization phenomenon impelled by Portugal.
The proposed design is the result of the tension between the diverse elements in Ribeira das Naus site (built elements, dry dock) and the diverse strata, which lay geometrically below the current surface spot height (Arsenal Dock, beaching-place). The revelation and the integration of these fossil elements, partially buried and potentially determinative of the site’s character, make up the recreation process of Ribeira das Naus. The architecture of this site in Lisbon’s waterfront landscape is based on the concurrence of fossil and contemporary elements, with the double sense of revealing the diverse times of the place (culture of the space of the city) and the action in the use of public space (circulation, permanence, contemplation, infrastructure). However, if the revelation of juxtaposed time strata in space appears to be a unique chance to create a vibrant site in Lisbon, what site-living experience can it bring us?