UNIÓN INTEGRADA DE ARQUITECTOS S.L.P.

The ancient Poor Clare Convent is located to the northeast of Olivenza historic city centre. Originally, the convent was on the outskirts of the city until the Crown of Portugal fortified Olivenza with a vast wall with nine bastions.  On the one hand, this fortification is the point of departure for the proposal.  Moreover, it will give in the end an outstanding picture of the building embraced by the wall.

On the other hand, according to the general planning that intends to boost the fortification’s free spaces, the convent must be used as a resource to provide public services. This is the main argument to develop the project.

The proposal departs from the idea of an urban intervention plan carried out on the fortified perimeter. This idea is based on the recognition of the evolution and stratigraphic process of the wall’s design and geometry as main values. Furthermore, to protect the wall’s environment the subjective landscaping criterion has been replaced for an impartial procedure. This objective intervention is defined by the geometry of the spaces, which established both the gradients and the outer areas of the wall taking into account the visibility and non visibility conditions.