Memory of Torre do Azavial
Architecture | Hindsight, Foresight, Insight
Architecture | Hindsight, Foresight, Insight
Raposeira, Portugal
Hindsight
The site withholds a memory that has been forgotten. There once existed two Towers: Torre de Aspa and Torre do Azavial. They were once built to protect the ports of Almadena and Azavial respectively. Once magnificently looking down at the landscape, their presence faded away. Torre de Aspa has been marked to remember, its present form as an obelisk, however, Torre do Azavial has faded from the people’s memory today.
The site withholds a memory that has been forgotten. There once existed two Towers: Torre de Aspa and Torre do Azavial. They were once built to protect the ports of Almadena and Azavial respectively. Once magnificently looking down at the landscape, their presence faded away. Torre de Aspa has been marked to remember, its present form as an obelisk, however, Torre do Azavial has faded from the people’s memory today.
Insight
This is a project birthed from the site. It remembers the past of Torre do Azavial. Once existed in between Praia Da Ingrina and Praia Do Zavial, its tower has been washed away due to an earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 1754 and 1755 respectively. Materials to reconstruct the tower uses the soil from the site as grog for the concrete, the resulting void as a mold for the panels, and the ruins as a marker for the new intervention. A rebirth of Torre do Azavial.
This is a project birthed from the site. It remembers the past of Torre do Azavial. Once existed in between Praia Da Ingrina and Praia Do Zavial, its tower has been washed away due to an earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 1754 and 1755 respectively. Materials to reconstruct the tower uses the soil from the site as grog for the concrete, the resulting void as a mold for the panels, and the ruins as a marker for the new intervention. A rebirth of Torre do Azavial.
Foresight
The tower has been re-built on an old quarter ruin. The ruin informs the boundary of the tower- it is a palimpsest of memory. Within the tower there lies an elevator. A timed moving volume limiting access to a select number of people at a time. People inside pausing before experiencing the vast site. The mirador allows viewers to experience the site as soldiers had once done before. Though with different intentions, they share similar views. After experiencing the site within the skies, viewers travel deeper down than they have risen up- into a cave that joins the existing landscape with a man-made void. This cave connects people and the history. It is a pause, a place to learn and understand - it is the information center of the site. Listening to the waves crashing outside, the waves call them to another mirador. Through a narrow path, one arrives in front of the waves. Open in vastness. A place of contemplation and reflection. Once the viewer comes up to the ground plane, they see the battery ruin. Looking out from the battery ruin, they realize that the ocean, its crashing waves against the rocks, and the vast skies are the same view as they had seen below. A parallel view. A parallel history.
The tower has been re-built on an old quarter ruin. The ruin informs the boundary of the tower- it is a palimpsest of memory. Within the tower there lies an elevator. A timed moving volume limiting access to a select number of people at a time. People inside pausing before experiencing the vast site. The mirador allows viewers to experience the site as soldiers had once done before. Though with different intentions, they share similar views. After experiencing the site within the skies, viewers travel deeper down than they have risen up- into a cave that joins the existing landscape with a man-made void. This cave connects people and the history. It is a pause, a place to learn and understand - it is the information center of the site. Listening to the waves crashing outside, the waves call them to another mirador. Through a narrow path, one arrives in front of the waves. Open in vastness. A place of contemplation and reflection. Once the viewer comes up to the ground plane, they see the battery ruin. Looking out from the battery ruin, they realize that the ocean, its crashing waves against the rocks, and the vast skies are the same view as they had seen below. A parallel view. A parallel history.