SITE LANDMARK, HONORABLE MENTION
This project is an entry awarded with Honorable Mention for an international ideas competition for the design of a contemporary Site Landmark located on on a site promontory in Sagres, Algarve, Portugal.
A strong wind is blowing through her hair, leaving it twisted and tousled while she slowly approaches the cliff, determined to find out more about the strange structure that had caught her eye from the boat. It stood there, prolonging the already steep contour of the cliff, exaggerating its verticality. The construct seemed almost like bridge out into the ocean, missing its other half.
Her gaze wanders further down the cliff, when the woman makes out steps cutting into the rocks. After passing the first set of stairs, she had walked down just enough to be at eye level with the horizon, making her realize the vastness of the view that surrounds her. Descending further down the steps, the wind wears off and the light diminishes, leaving her only enclosed by the sheer mass of the rock.
Reaching the last few steps, she discovers a light that slowly grows into a striking view of the ocean. She moves down what at first seems like a narrow corridor, continuing the stairs and following the direction of the cliff. But as the woman enters the enclosed space, she realizes the pillar dividing the view is what she had seen from afar.
As she reaches the edge of the platform and looks down on a straight concrete wall seemingly extending the natural stone, she still could not understand the purpose of this relic, but in a way it made sense.
