As previously announced, the Portuguese architects behind “OCO – Ocean & Coastline Observatory” have won Habitat for Humanity’s Open Architecture Challenge: RESTRICTED ACCESS 2011. Over 500 teams from 74 countries submitted innovative solutions for the recovery and reuse of disabled and abandoned military sites. These submissions were filtered down to 13 finalists by a jury of 33 esteemed professionals. The Lisbon-based architects of OCO claimed grand prized with their vision to redevelop a desolate military site, that once defended the coast of Trafaria in Portugal, into a civic space that promotes coastal preservation.
Continue after the break for more.
Guided by the belief that Portugal’s identity is indelibly linked to the ocean, the team chose a large network of infrastructure in the Tagus estuary, on the opposite side of Lisbon, that was once the 5th battery Trafaria or ‘Bateria da Raposeira’. Ironically, this abandoned site of entrenched bunkers armed with heavy navy cannons was built to last. Thick concrete walls and iron slabs are detailed with simple stonework in the eaves, stairs, windows and door openings, and covered in overgrown vegetation.
This grand prize proposal maintains the original intent the 5th battery Trafaria by offering a solution that would continue to protect the coast through ecological and sustainable preservation. OCO envisions a scheme that would transform the hilltop site into a thriving civic space where people of different communities can meet and share their concerns, plans and ambitions for the coast.
RESTRICTED ACCESS 2011 the team was:
- João Segurado
- João Figueiredo
- Manel Espada
- José Pereira
- Mauro Jerónimo
- Filipe Freitas
- Luís Sezões
The winning proposal will join the other RESTRICTED ACCESS finalists at the 2012 Venice Biennale exhibition, “Centuries & TRACES OF FUTURE STEPS”. Stay tuned for more details.
