Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro Secondary School / Sousa Santos Architects

Architects: Sousa Santos Architects
Location: Caldas da Rainha, Portugal
Design Team: Jorge Sousa Santos, Bruno Ferraz, Patricia Costa, Ismael Prata, Sofia Oliveira, Vítor Ribeiro
Client: Parque Escola
Completion: 2010
Photographs: João Morgado

The new building is rooted in the slope between the two sports fields of the school. In the south end of the building will be posicioned the public program, the library and the amphitheater enhancing the relationship of the school campus with the urban fabric of the city.

The upper level of this building is constructed with thin metallic columns that create a matrix in the library room. This columns end in a skylight creating an architectural paradox, a support that finishes in the sky.

All the new buildings are supposed to be read as a unitary architectural statement. The construction proposes the spatial narrative and the formal choices contribute for the former.