"The Town Council decided to programme the reutilisation of a group of hay barns located in Rua de S. Dâmaso as a support structure for the archaeological works. The hay barns appeared to have been implanted on the outside of the city wall and not visible. These would house laboratory spaces, a dormitory, a small kitchen, a living room and bathrooms. From the survey‚ we were able to assess the feasibility of the programme proposed for this site. Archaeological research works then began which determined in-depth alterations to the original situation. This made the project more complex but also richer in formal and content implications. ln fact, the discovery inside the hay barns of the base of the Roman wall, including a semi-circular tower, an area of its extrados with magnificent stonework and also traces of other constructions and burials, led to a drastic rethinking of the project which had initially been considered quite simple to resolve [...]. 

 The idea of the project was based on the attempt to formalise two intentions which, whilst not contradictory, should maintain some autonomy. The first was to restore the exterior image of the hay barns, maintaining their internal modulation through the transverse walls separating them. 

The hay barns globally offer a tranquil image, extending north and south, with few variations in scale. These correspond to its use as a rural infraestructure, a use maintained for many years and corresponding also to the village's dominant character. The second is not only to keep the wall base visible but to show its volume, scale and design on the outside. The wall should be extended virtually up to the foreseeable limit of its height and clad in copper, quite different from stone. This would give a scenographic image, as it were, not to be confused with any restoration mimicking the primitive construction. Seen from the inside the continuation of the wall base will force the opening of the walls separating the various units of the hay barns, allowing for interior communication without completely destroying the previous division of the spaces [...]" 

 
Atelier 15 

(Alexandre Alves Costa e Sérgio Fernandez)