8/20/2019 ARX Portugal - Library, Ilhavo, Portugal

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This new library is the secondmajor civic building in Ílhavo bythe filial partnership of José andNuno Mateus who founded theARX Portugal collective in theearly ’90s. Their first, an intelligentremodelling and expansion ofthe town’s maritime museum(AR July 2004) celebrated theparticular, while also touching onmore elemental themes. It alsorequired pragmatism in dealingwith a somewhat undistinguishedexisting structure, which, in orderto secure EC funding, had to be

integrated within the new work.Coincidentally, the library projectalso involves an existing element,but one of rather greater historicmerit; in this case the remains ofthe Manor Visconde de Almeida, anaristocratic mansion house datingfrom the seventeenth century.

The site lies on the edge ofÍlhavo, in surroundings typical ofincoherent, dislocated peripherieseverywhere. Both the natureof the site and the presence ofan original structure gave riseto a more nuanced strategy ofrestatement and consolidation, asopposed to simply introducing agestural, object building.

When the Mateus brotherswon a competition for the jobin 2001, not much remained ofthe mansion house. Yet sinceit constituted a rare example

of enduring heritage in acoastal town more noted forits industry than history, thepreservation and integration ofwhat had survived became thestarting point for the project.

From the original house, onlythe main facade running along

1The library’s crisp,whiterendered volumes arecontemporary abstractions ofIberian vernacular.2Main entrance signposted bya shimmering wall of glass.3The elemental simplicity andabstraction recall the workof Siza. 2 3

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LIBRARY, ÍLHAVO,

PORTUGAL

ARCHITECT

ARX PORTUGAL

READING

HISTORYThis new library in a provincial

Portuguese town makes resonant

connections with history.

8/20/2019 ARX Portugal - Library, Ilhavo, Portugal

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the south-west edge of thesite and the small family chapelremained. Both were in ruins, butare now immaculately restored,forming anchoring points forARX’s additions and interventions.Executed with a taste for thereductive that clearly owes a debtto Siza, the new parts lock into theold, their white rendered volumesan abstract, contemporary playon Iberian vernacular. The mainentrance on the north-east sideis marked by a triangular canopywhich shelters a shimmering

wall of full-height glazing, arare interlude of lightness andpermeability in a predominantlyhermetic composition.

The library forms the socialand organisational fulcrum of theplan, docking into the historicparts, now functioning as officesand technical spaces. The mainreading room is suspended overthe entrance foyer and capped bya modern version of a sawtoothroof. On the south side, the foyerand reading room enclose a secretcourtyard garden, a modernversion of the cooling, verdantIberian patio.

A rigorous palette of whitewalls and creamy stone floorsunifies the interior, with the oddcalculated touch such as thedesigner light fitting that hoversprecipitously over the entrancehall like a clutch of suspendedpick-up-sticks. Though stripped ofits decorative elements over time,the little chapel has been tactfullyrestored to its original function,adding another dimension tothe civic nature of the complex;however in a conspicuouslyCatholic country, its presence

does not seem out of place.Throughout the project there

is a fertile reciprocity betweenold and new with the new partsunequivocally of their timeand characterised by a formalboldness. Yet this is tempered bya subtle sensuality – the handlingof materials, the play of light – andan enlightened awareness of place,history and how good architecturecan resonate with and reinvigoratethe wider community. C.S.

Architect

ARX Portugal,LisbonPhotographs

Fernando Guerra

  1 entrance hall  2 multi-purpose room  3 reception  4 storage  5 wc  6 children’s section  7 storytelling  8 bar   9 technical spaces 10 auditorium 11 archive 12 loading dock  13 staff room 14 chapel 15 patio garden 16 meeting room 17 adult reading room 18 administration offices

4The form

and the rold mansintegrate5Main aduby cleres6Patio adjentranceby a protrtreated asculpture7Entrance leading ureading r

cross section through chapel and mansion house looking south-west

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cross section through foyer and adult reading room looking south-west

c ro ss se ct io n th ro ug h c ha pe l a nd ma ns io n ho us e l oo ki ng no rt h- ea st l on g s ec ti on th ro ug h c hi ld re n’s li br ar y an d c ha pe l l oo ki ng so ut h

ground floor plan (scale approx 1:1000)

first floor 

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LIBRARY, ÍLHAVO,

PORTUGAL

ARCHITECT

ARX PORTUGAL