The trinity College in Coimbra was desfigured and damaged by its successive occupants and most of the building has been unoccupied for decades; it was severely ruined.
An extensive archaeological intervention recently took place, which revealed the building’s successive phases of occupation. At the same time, the execution of the project of adaptation of the college complex to the European University Judicial Court and other services of the Law School is taking place, under the supervision of the architecture studio Aires Mateus.
 

Description of the project by Aires Mateus

The project starts with the consideration of heritage and historical values. We differentiate between the "eternal" value of the project´s masses: the compression of the great walls and domes, and the "ephemeral" character of the old structures: constructive systems traditionally made of wood. The project was developed following this understanding of passing time, preserving the value of the "eternal" and proposing a new "ephemeral". A structure made of steel, separate and flooded with light, suggests a new contemporaneity.

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Architects
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Aires Mateus e Associados. Architects.- Manuel and Francisco Aires Mateus.
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Project leader
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Susana Rodrigues.
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Colaborators
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Valentino Capelo Sousa, Patrícia Marques, Mariana Barbosa Mateus, Joana Carmo Simões, Vânia Fernandes, Olga Sanina, Sara Nobre.
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Engineer
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BETAR, GPEC Trofa, JOULE, José Galvão Teles.
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Constructor
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Veiga Lopes S.A.
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Dates
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Project.- 2001 - 2013.
Construction.- 2014 - 2016.
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Area
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Surface area.- 1910 sqm
Built area.- 4093 sqm
Site area.- 2300 sqm
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Location
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Coimbra, Portugal.
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Photography
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Nelson Garrido.
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Manuel Rocha Aires Mateus. Born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1963. Graduates as an architect in F.A./U.T.L., Lisbon Portugal in 1986. Collaboration with architect Gonçalo Byrne since 1983. Collaboration with architect Francisco Aires Mateus since 1988.

Teacher in Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, USA, in 2002 and 2005. Invited teacher in Fakulteta za Arhitekturo, Universa v Ljubljani, Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2003/2004. Teacher in Accademia di Architectura,Mendrízio, Switzerland, since 2001. Professor in Universidade Autónoma, Lisbon, since 1998. Professor in Universidade Lusíada, Lisbon, since 1997. Invited for several seminars and conferences in: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Croatia, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and USA.

Francisco Xavier Aires Mateus. Born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1964. Graduates as an architect F.A./U.T.L., Lisbon Portugal in 1987. Collaboration with architect Gonçalo Byrne since 1983. Collaboration with architect Manuel Aires Mateus since 1988.

TEACHING. Visiting professor at Oslo School of Architecture, Oslo 2009. Teacher in Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, USA, in 2005. Teacher at Accademia di Architettura, Mendrisio, Università della Svizzera Italiana, since 2001. Professor at Universidade Autónoma in Lisbon since 1998. Invited Teacher for seminaries in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, England, Brazil, Mexico, Norway, Chile, Brazil, USA, Slovenia, Croatia, Canada and Japan.

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