José Neves recenlty won the first prize in the competition for the project of the Centro de Artes do Carnaval in the city of Torres Vedras, Portugal. The jury noted that the design organizes the spaces for public use in an optimal way, allowing for a visitor’s path which is logical, organized and consequential. The proposal suggests the building as a unifying idea for the site starting from a balance between the contest specifications and the site characteristics, an innovative approach to the Slaughter House building, a relevant interpretation of the existing urban language and the consequent formulation of an architectural language which reinvents the site. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Situated close to one of the accesses to the city of Torres Vedras, within walking distance from its historical centre, the proposed site for the Centro de Artes do Carnaval is marked by two singular elements: on the one hand, the old Slaughter House which, before being closed down, was a focus of urban life in the small fragmented neighbourhood which surrounded it and still keeps its icon status; on the other hand, the crater of an old abandoned quarry. This crater consists of a large platform, currently inaccessible, and a cliff, whose dimension and material – stone – lend the whole space a dreamlike touch.
