Arquipélago Center for the Contemporary Arts Tangible simplicity

By Yehuda Safran - 1 November 2016

This project at Ribeira Grande, situated on the north side of the main island of the Azores archipelago, São Miguel, has a demanding program. The three architects who won the competition at the time - Cristina Guedes, Francisco Viera de Campos, from Menos é Mais Arquitectos office (represented in the latest Venice Biennale, Reporting from the Front, with the Teleferico de Gaia in Oporto) together with João Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto from Coimbra, worked seven long years (2007-2014) to realize Arquipélago, a contemporary arts center on the outskirts of Ribeira Grande in a disused alcohol and tobacco factory. Perhaps only the silhouette of the industrial complex as seen from the sea has remained intact. In our time there are great number of comparable programs just about everywhere in the world, from Beijing to the Dia Foundation in Beacon, USA, in Zurich, Turin and, more recently, the Prada Foundation in Milan. But in no other project have the rawness and original materials and forms been transformed so deftly to such rewarding effect. What gives the visitor such a thrill is indeed that so much has been achieved with such limited means. The project consists of two different elements: the fabric of the original factory in stone and the large additional construction in concrete. In the latter, basalt sand was mixed to create a new material that resembles the basalt stone of the original structure. The void in the middle of the site defines and connects the two elements. Of course, the fabric of the old factory had to be augmented and in many areas completely rebuilt. This strategy adds to the heterogeneity of the “old” fabric in contrast with the “new”, which, however, is no longer experienced as such thanks to the material composition. The smooth texture of the new structure mirrors the coarse character of the old stone constructions, held together and very often rebuilt down the years with slightly different...