Overview
The site lies perched on a hill just south of the River Douro, commanding a sweeping view over the city. The project begins by acknowledging the landscape’s political role - shaped over centuries by Catholic and military power, designed for seclusion and dominion. Though it stands as a visual anchor, the site remains severed by sovereign authority and underutilized as public land. The thesis intends to resolve this tether, to unbind the site from its legacy of exclusion and reframe it as a civic commons.