The jury for the Maria Tereza and Vasco Vilalva Award unanimously decided to award the prize to the renovation of the building of the Old Ceramic Society of Coimbra, a project co-authored by architect Luisa Bebiano and Atelier do Corvo (Carlos Antunes and Desirée Pedro). In this 11th edition, honourable mentions were also awarded to the Letreiro Galeria Project and to the rehabilitation and conservation of the Lello Bookshop.

The winner of the Award submitted an intervention plan that “aims to showcase one of Coimbra’s centuries-old arts, housed in a space that has been restored with the finest techniques, maintaining an open dialogue in the design and craftsmanship processes with the contemporary language of intervention”. The cultural dynamics of the project were also taken into consideration.

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The jury’s choice was based on the following grounds: 

• The relevance of an intervention in Terreiro da Erva, an area of the city of Coimbra showing signs of degradation and marked by a certain marginality;

• The personalised and familiar character of the project, which deserves to be highlighted when inserted in a society marked by the logic of large corporations;

• The cultural relevance of the factory, with a continued practice of knowledge recovery that is not, nor can it be, disconnected from the economic sustainability of the project;

• The merit of renovating a building that was abandoned for 20 years and is now being used for a new purpose;

• The fact that it is a work in progress, constantly improving and designed for the future.

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In short, the jury wanted to emphasise the exceptional nature – in terms of location, programme and implementation – of the renovation project for the building of the Old Ceramic Society of Coimbra and its human dimension, hoping that it will serve as an example for other locations.

The Old Ceramic Society of Coimbra has a restaurant that has been open since March 2018 and the pottery workshop has been in full operation since September 2018.

The jury, composed of António Lamas, Raquel Henriques da Silva, Gonçalo Byrne, Santiago Macias, Luís Paulo Ribeiro, and Rui Vieira Nery, decided to award the following honourable mentions:

The Letreiro Galeria Project, which has made a name for itself in the collection, conservation and study of printed and illuminated signs, signboards, lettered windbreaks and other commercial designs, is fundamental to the preservation of Lisbon’s urban memory, keeping track of how it’s changed over time, as well as to the knowledge of the history of graphic arts, design and creative industries in Portugal. This project plans to create an “exhibition warehouse”, which should contribute to greater collective awareness of the richness and need to preserve this patrimony.

The restoration and conservation of Livraria Lello, established in 1906, combines the requalification of the architectural space with the revitalisation and expansion of its function as a cultural space. The intervention complied with exemplary standards of respect for the original design, techniques and materials, ensuring both the restoration of elements of the initial design that had been altered and the detailed documentation and reversibility of the present intervention. The restoration of the space was accompanied by a strategy to reinforce its cultural aspect, with the aim of promoting literature and reading, Portuguese authors, quality translation from and into Portuguese, and the connection between literature and the arts.

Maria Tereza and Vasco Vilalva Award

The Vilalva Award was established in 2007, on the occasion of the acquisition of the remainder of Santa Gertrudes Park from Maria Tereza Belo Eugénio de Almeida, widow of Vasco Eugénio de Almeida, Count of Vilalva. Created in honour of Vasco Vilalva, the Award aims to distinguish the best cultural patrimony rehabilitation projects undertaken in private property within Portugal. Worth €50,000, it is the most prestigious Portuguese award in this field.