CAMILO REBELO TIAGO PIMENTEL
G.O.P.
CÔA MUSEUM
CAMILO REBELO
Camilo Rebelo was born in Porto. He studied at the German College and graduated from the Faculty of Architecture University of Porto in 1996. He collaborated with Eduardo Souto Moura and with Herzog & de Meuron.
In 2000 he founded is Architectural Studio in Oporto and since then he has created about hundred projects. His area of research has mostly been concerned with the relationship between architecture and nature, linking artificial and natural with in protected areas and classified landscape.
He taught at the Faculty of Architecture University of Porto, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de la University of Navarra, and the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio. Since 2014 has a research Studio Architecture and Landscape at Politecnico di Milano.
His work has been recognised through several national and international awards including the Bauwelt Award, Baku UIA Award and Douro Valley Award, as well as nominations for Secil Award, BSI Swiss Prize and EU Mies Award. Ktima Villa was chosen by BBC2 to feature in a documentary called The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes (Underground)
TIAGO PIMENTEL
Tiago Pimentel was Born in Lisbon, 1973.
Lives and works in Oporto, where he graduated in Architecture by the Faculty of Architecture of Oporto University (FAUP) in 1998, having also studied at the “Technische Universiteit Delft” (TUDelft), in Holland.
Collaborator of João Álvaro Rocha between 1999 and 2002.
Own office in 2001. In his work stands out the Museum of the Côa Valley, 2004-2009, in coauthorship with Camilo Rebelo, awarded with the Bauwelt Prize [2013]; the Baku International Architecture Award [2013] and Prémio de Arquitectura no Douro [Ed. 2013/14].
G.O.P.
GOP is an engineering design firm that dedicates to the elaboration of studies and projects in all aspects of engineering, constituted by engineers, project managers and experts. Its aim is to offer a complete service and of high quality to its clients.With over 40 years of experience, the effort and dedication to the project contribute so that the final result is positive, the representation of dreams and goals of those who idealize the project. This attitude has allowed GOP to participate in projects that mark the history of contemporary architecture and engineering in Portugal and in the rest of the World.
“An engineer that´s invisible, in which the building, the structure and equipment are an uniform body, whose construction involves a great deal of ability, originality, risk and innovation. This has been the mark of GOP´s work in the last 40 years. GOP stands out by the way of conceiving the engineer work and the engineer discipline itself as an integral part of the creativity process of the project and not only a simple calculating exercise intended to sustain the building. With an objective posture to the projects problems, GOP has been positioning With an objective posture to the projects problems, GOP has been positioning itself as a preferred partner, either in project development, either in terms of the team internationalization, that´s the result of several partnerships that have been developed in various parts of the globe. Right now GOP effectively covers South America, Africa, Europe and Asia.
CÔA MUSEUM
G.O.P.
CO-AUTHORED WITH TIAGO PIMENTEL AND G.O.P. GABINETE DE ORGANIZAÇÃO E PROJECTOS
1 Work jointly authored with the architect Tiago Pimentel.
2 Herberto Helder, Vocação Animal, Publicações Dom Quixote.
3 Herberto Helder, As Magias, Assírio & Alvim.
Off all Camilo’s works, the Museu do Côa is the one that interests me most, perhaps because it is the “hardiest”, not just in the sense of the concept of lasting, but because it is also the most perennial, the most gravitational, and the most pedagogical. So let us see:
1- Installation, like a wedge embedded in the rock, and when viewed from below, the most favourable angle, it evokes the temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion – “Top”.
2- Material, in reinforced concrete, solid, within, and covered with a prefabricated concrete skin, simulating the surrounding shale, in texture and colour – “Réussi”.
3- Constructive system, suited to the material in its variants, concrete in situ or precast – Opposites, but compatible with one another – difficult.
4- Language, the museum has an “Animal Vocation” , a dun animal, serene, and when the topography makes way, it rises in the air against gravity.
When we enter the building, we hear the animal breathing, we feel the systoles and diastoles along the way until we reach the dark room, and before returning, this back room without light (‘If you wait you can see…’) is like a sanctuary awaiting As Magias [the magic] that can happen.
EDUARDO SOUTO DE MOURA
VILA NOVA DE FOZ CÔA | PORTUGAL 2004 - 2010
The proposal is the consequent result of analyzing natural and programmatic conditions and using themes that best respond to the generic situation: to build an art and archaeology museum on the slope at the mouth of the Côa River.
The themes addressed are diverse, resulting from a work dynamic that seeks to intersect external factors, such as topography and accessibility, with programmatic content factors. The challenge of merging these factors becomes explicit in the concept of the intervention—conceiving a museum as an installation within the landscape.
Concept
The Rock Art that uniquely qualifies the banks of the Côa River is probably the first form of “LandArt” in human history. This condition immediately became the driving force behind the project’s idea. “LandArt” is generally characterized in two distinct ways. In the first, the intervention in the landscape is executed with natural elements promoting continuity, where abstract geometry imposes itself, highlighting the intervention. In the second, the strategy is to work with a body designed specifically for a place, promoting an intimate dialogue between artificial and natural elements, thus increasing the thematic complexity of its composition. In this case, the territory suggests a dual reading, as it is both the natural landscape that one intends to intervene in and dialog with, but it is also a consequence of human intervention—a shaped nature that emphasizes its artificial condition.
In the case of the museum, the affirmative sense of the body seems important, both in its reading as an intervention in the landscape and regarding its typological nature, which must be formalized as a physical mass, leaving no ambiguities or misunderstandings regarding its location and content.
TOPOGRAPHY
The topography is decisive in the choices made, as its pronounced condition complicates the relationship between the museum entrance
and its encounter from the dizzying moment of arrival at the site. The proposal seeks to resolve this gap by nullifying it, making them coincide in space and consequently in time.
Thus, since this occurs at the highest point of the site, the proposal is to create a platform, terrace, and viewpoint of vast scale, thereby creating a multiple stage whose scenery is the overwhelming landscape of the Douro mountains and valleys. This is the moment of arrival and simultaneously of contemplation, leisure, parking, and freely guided pedestrian circulation. This is the beginning and the end of the line, an open and closed reality, and at the same time, the space where the museum entrance begins.
This platform allows the moment of transition from outside to inside not to be quick and immediate—the door—but rather a prolonged movement.
The strategy of the body, in its relationship with the topography, is natural; that is, the platform takes the level of arrival as its height, while the condition of the land naturally slopes along this, revealing it in its entirety at its most extreme point.
Thus, there are two premises: the first is not to cut the mountain, giving it a new and artificial silhouette; the second is to initially occupy the land, freeing the rest, preserving its natural state, requalifying it so that it can be used as a leisure and contemplation park, and minimizing the impact on the landscape.
ACCESSIBILITY
The rugged character of the topography complicates the relationship between the typology in question and the moment of arrival at the site. A museum needs various accesses of different types (visitors, staff, and loading/unloading), whose requirements for slopes for vehicle circulation would require the inclusion of access points with great physical and aesthetic complexity, which would definitively transform the land and consequently the landscape dramatically.
The accessibility strategy arises from optimizing the different circumstances of the project and the existing material and natural conditions on the site. The intention is to use the platform (the museum’s roof) as a general arrival space, thus ensuring that the different means of access are arranged in distinct areas, clarifying and facilitating distribution and orientation.
The museum’s location determines that the main accessibility will be by road, to be built, and as such predominantly by car and bus. In this regard, concerning vehicle access, three types of situations need to be considered: visitor and staff vehicles, buses, and trucks for loading.
For vehicles, it is foreseen that their approach and parking will be as direct as possible, with them occupying part of the platform positioned between the vertical accesses (stairs/elevator) and the main access (the ramp). The platform’s occupation by vehicles should be understood beyond the museum’s scope, as it is conceived as a panoramic drive-in, which can even be used on days when the museum is closed.
The option for buses is different, aimed at avoiding the disastrous impact they would have on the landscape. We anticipate that their approach will be as direct as possible (as with vehicles); however, their parking, after turning around, should be along the new road, in a designated area that allows for easier exit for these vehicles and minimizes their impact on the territory.
Trucks should not cross in conflict with other areas, and therefore the proposal aims for an immediate detour at the start of the platform, promoting a dedicated route along the body to the loading/unloading area.
Access for park Jeeps will also be via this route, with their garage adjacent to the loading sector.
Finally, for exceptional accessibility, via air, we propose that the helipad be built at the site of the current viewpoint, requalifying it, thus ensuring its nature as a balcony over the river
PUBLICATION
DATA INFORMATION
COLLECTION LONG BOOKS
VOLUME LB 29
TITLE
CAMILO REBELO
côa museum
ISBN
978-989-35767-8-6
PUBLICATION DATE
December 2024
EDITOR AND GENERAL MANAGER
Ana Leal
EDITORIAL TEAM
Ana Leal, architect
Filipa Figueiredo Ferreira, designer
João Soares, architect
Ricardo Figueiredo, designer
PRINTING
Graficamares
LEGAL DEPOSIT
480255/21
RUN NUMBER
1000 numbered copies
PUBLISHER AND OWNER AMAG publisher
VAT NUMBER 513 818 367
CONTACTS hello@amagpublisher.com www.amagpublisher.com /1000
LONG BOOKS COLLECTION
LB 01 DAVID ADJAYE mole house
LB 02 NICHOLAS BURNS guimarães chapel
LB 03
DAVID ADJAYE the webster
LB 04 CARVALHO ARAÚJO casa na caniçada
LB 05 ANDRÉ CAMPOS | JOANA MENDES centro coordenador de transportes
LB 06 ANDRÉ CAMPOS | JOANA MENDES PEDRO GUEDES DE OLIVEIRA fábrica em barcelos
LB 07
DAVID ADJAYE winter park library & events center
LB 08
DAVID ADJAYE 130 william tower
LB 09 BRANDENBERGER KLOTER ARCHITECTS community hall laufenburg
LB 10 BRANDENBERGER KLOTER ARCHITECTS
school pfeffingen
LB 11 BRANDENBERGER KLOTER ARCHITECTS
double kindergarten rüti
LB 12 BRANDENBERGER KLOTER ARCHITECTS
school aarwangen
LB 13 BRANDENBERGER KLOTER ARCHITECTS
school birrwil
LB 14 ANGELO CANDALEPAS the castle
LB 15 PAUL MURDOCH
ARCHITECTS
flight 93 national memorial
LB 16 ÁLVARO SIZA monte da lapa volume l
LB 17 SO – IL amant
LB 18 AFF spore initiative
LB 19 LYNCH ARCHITECTS n2
LB 20 VIANA DE LIMA casa das marinhas
LB 21 SPASM parikrama house
LB 22 JOSEP FERRANDO social center
LB 23 SJB 19 waterloo Street
LB 24 KENGO KUMA cam
LB 25 TOMOAKI UNO terabe guest house
LB 26 AM2 Arquitectos | ARENAS & ASOCIADOS | NOARQ halo
LB 27 LYNCH ARCHITECTS westminster coroner’s court
LB 28 CHRIST & GANTENBEIN swiss national museum
LB 29 CAMILO REBELO côa museum, is the twenty-nine title from LONG BOOKS COLLECTION.
AMAG LONG BOOKS COLLECTION brings together a unique selection of projects that establish new paradigms in architecture.
With a contemporary and timeless conceptual graphic language, the 1000 numbered copies of each LONG BOOK will document works with different scales and formal contexts that extend the boundaries of architectural expression.
This title has the special support from:
