Mojo Architecture
Like a rock in the sand, a shape seems to emerge from the ground revealing a new imprint that will leave its mark on the convent’s history.
Along the Atlantic coast, between the hills, the ruin of the convent of Penafirme is fixed. Like a rock in the sand, a shape seems to emerge from the ground revealing a new imprint that will leave its mark on the convent’s history.
Facing us, two masses confront each other: One bears the mark of time, the stones laid one by one by the monks of “Santo Agostinho”, consumed by erosion and natural disasters. The other is a limit that enhances the intimacy of the place. Between the two entities is a passage, crossing the building and framing a view of nature. In the open air, natural light illuminates the corridor, the arches’ shadows are projected on the ruin, gaps are defined and seem to indicate different entrances.
In the heart, the cloister contains a place of introspection, one feels protected from the outside while simultaneously seeing it. The pilgrim sits and observes the silence of the architecture, mystified by a space covered with sand. Behind, a pool and arches reveal the ruin, alluding to the past.
The new convent is in constant dialogue with history. The ruins and the sand are the elements that make up a sacred place, a meditative site that immerses us in a historical universe, through memory and silence. A new imprint is created.
Authors: Mojo Architecture (Paco Julia+Julie Tardy).
Location: Portugal.
Year: 2022
Competition: Arkxsite – Site Convent.