Contrasted Sublime

This project creates a new connection between the existing São Domingos da Baralha Fortress ruins with the coastline by creating a series of excavated spiritual spaces which manifest in a structure placed in the sea. Various symbolic forms, both literal and abstract, create a multitude of spaces that challenge what spirituality, contemplation, and meditation can mean to an individual.

In particular, the use of infant forms suggest varying feelings of cuteness, innocence, creepiness and the sublime, while referencing the historical use of the infant form in religious spaces. The monastery merges with the surroundings from a distance; however, it brings about recognition of a pile of over-scaled and abstracted infants at a short distance.

As a type of creative reuse, this project aims for appreciation of the existing ruins which symbolize the sublime in contrast with more contemporary emotions rather than materiality.