Jean Baudrillard defines architecture as “a mixture of nostalgia and extreme anticipation”. This idea comes along like a murmur in all the proposals, especially heritage projects. Each project always represents a renewed commitment to capture what is unique and non-transferable in each architectural episode.
In a landscape as unique and astonishing as Douro, any intervention must be very precise. That’s why the first challenge was to underline the distinctive identity of the project while carefully respecting the landscape. Each gesture had to be incisive, adapting itself to the given programme while conquering an expressiveness that could value both the built complex and the surrounding landscape. The expansion project for Quinta do Vallado included two areas of intervention – production and leisure – and a supplemental challenge: to maintain and to integrate the per-existing buildings in a new complex with a clearly contemporary vocabulary. The unification of all these purposes needed great technical precision and resulted in great simplicity, both in the use of material and in the creation of forms. This assured minimal impact to the landscape but the same economy of means was used to create very seductive spaces. Seduction of the visitor was always part of the game.
Overall view of the winery (Image Courtesy Alberto Plácido 2010)
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