Excerpt: Olaria Municipal, an architectural rehabilitation by ARDE Arquitetura+Design, adapts a pottery program without altering its existing structure. The proposed expansion reinforces the damaged structure with handmade solid brick, reflecting the craftsmanship of a potter. Its simple form emphasizes the brick and clay, giving the structure an industrial character while paying tribute to the excavated hillside.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] The project is located in Quinta da Estrela which occupies a valley in Odemira, a landscape significantly altered over the last three decades. The slope surrounding the Quinta da Estrela house was removed to make way for a parking lot, isolating the building and causing structural issues due to the excavation.
The intervention and rehabilitation proposal adapts the pottery program to the building without altering the existing construction and creates an adjacent volume for the location of kilns and technical areas. The rehabilitated areas of the existing building include a store, a kitchen, a toilet, and the potter’s workspace. The proposed expansion serves as a buttress to the damaged wall of the house. It is entirely made of handmade solid brick, aligning the new construction method with the craftsmanship of the potter.
The simple form of the expansion makes the brick and the clay the protagonist of this new construction, giving it an industrial character while linking the material to the earth as a memorial to the excavated hillside.
To enhance the building’s relationship with its surroundings, the landscape next to the main entrance was redesigned, and two ramps were integrated to create a smoother connection between the building, the town, and Quinta da Estrela.
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