The working conditions in these mines were particularly harsh, in very humid conditions, where workers breathed the radioactive particles in suspension, that could exist.
After the process of chemical and radiological decontamination of the buildings,
Orgânica studio was responsible for buildings renovation of the Chemical Treatment, the Crushing and Walkway, together with the uranium transformation and treatment complex, going back to the time of its construction and inventions; and, simultaneously, to operate its functional transformation.
The project proposed by
Organica, focused on two complementary objectives: stripping the walls and ceilings of industrial buildings to expose the steel structure, the network of supplies, machines, devices and the performative mechanisms that inhabit them, showing their organization. Then, an enclosure was developed that works as a protective armour, which serves to filter the light from the outside, allowing, however, to breathe the interiors.
This casing stands out for its sets of black slaps that bend the light outside, while the portion that passes through gives spaces and objects a certain atmosphere of silence that awakens emotion. By day the buildings stand out black and heavy, and by night, light and diaphanous.
"This project meant an unexpected encounter with memories of the old Urgeiriça Uranium Mines". And he adds: "Through architecture, I want to leave a heartfelt embrace and a just tribute to the miners, and I hope it will serve to repair the hard legacy of this activity that is still manifested there."
Paulo Serôdio
English mismanagement leads Salazar to take over the property of the company and create the Nuclear Energy Board. After the April 25 revolution, it changed its name to Empresa Nacional de Uranio. In the 1950s, it employed about 1,500 workers, but at the end of the 1980s there were only just over 350. The mines closed in 2004.
The mining activity in this territory has had a brutal impact on the health of the miners and on the surrounding social fabric that still exists
