RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE
PORTO, PORTUGAL

This rehabilitation project happens after a devastating fire that generically damaged all interior of the Church. The building presents itself as monumental and brutal concrete structure. It is one example of the architectural modernist movement projects in Oporto. The project needed to answer to the spatial needs of the worship space as well as the pipe organ music concerts that already took place in the church until then. In a close collaboration with the ecclesiastic authorities a new spatial organization was proposed through a progressive sequence of different ceremonial moments.

Most work was about space cleaning and precise demolitions to restore the principles and assumptions of the original project of the Architect Eugénio Alves de Sousa in the 1960’s.

In order to enhance the building spatiality, capture the stainedglass windows light effects and to highlight the great pipe organ, a surgical, silent, simple and minimalist intervention was chosen.

Thus, it was proposed a free space and to apply a bright, smooth and levelled floor, allowing key celebration pieces, like the altar and the ambo, to be raised in space over marble – the stone becomes a sacred element in the new spatial organization – and allowing to dialogue with the great organ and the existing sculptural pieces.

Artificial lighting and sound performance was carefully studied and the intervention produced a notable improvement. This construction final result had a great positive feedback by the clergy and the community.