this is a proposal of intervention in the historical center of the city of Covilhã - Portugal... i tried to keep the existent buildings as they really are {they are the expression of an architectonic culture}, and use them as a shell... in the interior of them i have a "white box" that reproduces the existing windows and doors... this building has a complex program... i created a "tunnel" that connects the different functions reinforcing the unit of the different functions into one building... people can pass through this "tunnel" or above it. If they walk through it they can have access to all the function and see this area as a historical area {old, tight spaces and rundown}. who walks above it will have access to all the green spaces in the top of the different functions of my building, here we have a space that recalls a garden {new, clean and open}. in this type of historical center there is no gardens... but i tried to create one that is not perceptible from the ground to protect the identity of the area... but building establish a strong relation with the existing buildings {it`s like a symbiosis where my building would not exist without the existing ones, and my building brings a new life to the existing buildings}...

2008