Mendes Ribeiro . Menos é Mais

Archipelago – Contemporary Arts Center . Azores

João Mendes Ribeiro . Menos é Mais . photos: © João Mendes Ribeiro . © menos é mais -model-

The design of Archipelago - Contemporary Arts Center – maintains the industrial character of the whole and highlights the dialogue between an existing building (former factory of alcohol / tobacco) and the new construction (arts and culture center, storage facilities, multipurpose hall / performing arts, laboratories, artist studios).

above photos: © José Campos

The design does not exaggerate the differences between the old and the new buildings. On the contrary, it seeks to unite the different scales and times of its parts throughout a pictorial manipulation of the form and materiality of the buildings - the existing buildings demarked by the volcanic stone masonry and the new buildings characterized by an abstract form, without reference or allusion to any language, built in concrete with local basalt inert continuously working with the variation of surfaces’ textures and rugosity, complementing the mass of the building with the emptiness of the patios.
The A-CAC acquires its identity by the quiet variation between the preexistence and the two new buildings. The containment strategy of facilities implementation enhances the spatial efficiency and hierarchical functionality of the different areas of the existing factory complex. While in the new buildings absorb the required functionalities, with special conditions, not compatible with the spatiality of preexisting buildings.
The design is committed to the quality of what exists, showing the typological variations - new buildings are placed next to the existing ones in a serene manner – underlining the architectonical memory of a given period and the new addition, without damaging or subverting the spatial and constructive structures of the whole.


Architects: Menos é Mais Arquitectos, João Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto
Location: Ribeira Grande, Portugal
Architect In Charge: Francisco Vieira de Campos (João Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto), Cristina Guedes, João Mendes Ribeiro (Menos é Mais Arquitectos)
Project Team: Inês Mesquita, Cristina Maximino, João Pontes, Luís Campos, Ana Leite Fernandes, Mariana Sendas, Pedro Costa, Inês Ferreira, João Fernandes, Ricardo Cardoso, Óscar Ribas, Ana Cerqueira, Joana Figueiredo, João Branco, Filipe Catarino, António Ferreira da Silva, Cláudia Santos, Ana Rita Martins
Coordination: Adalgisa Lopes, Jorge Teixeira Dias
Area: 12914.0 sqm
Year: 2014
Structural Engineering: Hipólito Sousa and Pedro Pinto (SOPSEC,SA)
Electrical Installations : Raul Serafim (Raul Serafim & Associados, Lda)
Security Measures And Fire Consulting: Maria da Luz Santiago (Raul Serafim & Associados, Lda)
Mechanical Installations : Raul Bessa (GET)
Hydraulic Installations: Diogo Leite and Filipe Freitas (SOPSEC,SA)
Gas Installations: José Pinto (SOPSEC,SA)
Acoustics: Rui Calejo (SOPSEC,SA)
Thermal : André Apolinário (SOPSEC,SA)
Landscape Architects: Ana Barroco and Rui Figueiredo
Stage Mechanics Consulting: João Aidos
Programming Consulting: Drª Elisa Babo (Quaternaire), Dr. Miguel Von Haff Pérez and Drª Marta Almeida
Conservation And Restoration Consulting: Drª. Gabriella Casella (Cariátides)
Client: Regional Directorate of Culture (DRaC) of the Regional Government of the Azores