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entrance
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inhabited wall- service area
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top view
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original volumes
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cafeteria
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lighthouse
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Santa Marta Lighthouse Museum
Aires Mateus e Associados. Cascais, Portugal
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Name of work in English
Santa Marta Lighthouse Museum
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Name of work in original language
Museu do Farol de Santa Marta
Prize year
EUmies Awards 2009
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Work Location
Cascais, Portugal
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Studio
Aires Mateus e Associados
EUmies Awards 2009 Shortlisted
Collaborators
Collaborator (office): Sofia Chinita
Program
Culture
Completion
2007
The Museum is located inside the remains of a 17thcentury fortress to which a lighthouse was added in 1868. Subsequently, numerous operations to update the technology of the lighthouse were carried out and in response to these complex historical layers the project introduced as few alterations as possible. Rather, the intervention focused on the rehabilitation of the original wall from where the five original volumes that compose the project emerge. While the lighthouse building maintains its function, the other four volumes are used as galleries.
A new 'inhabited wall', developed along the existing one, anchor all the existing volumes and contains the service areas. Existing elements were restored throughout and in the four galleries, a tile-cladding system was used to wrap the roof and walls. The outdoor space is divided into two main areas connected by a narrow path at different levels: an upper platform offers a wide view of the ocean and the lower one is surrounded by a landscape of rock formations.