15/6/2020 Center for Interpretation of Jewish Culture Isaac Cardoso / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos + Oficina Ideias em linha | ArchDaily

Center for Interpretation of Jewish Culture Isaac Cardoso /

Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos + Oficina Ideias em linha

6 years ago Share

CULTURAL CENTER • TRANCOSO, PORTUGAL
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Architects: Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos, Lda., Oficina Ideias em linha – Arquitectura e Design, Lda.
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Area:  500 m² Save
Year:  2012 SIGN ME UP Not now

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15/6/2020 Center for Interpretation of Jewish Culture Isaac Cardoso / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos + Oficina Ideias em linha | ArchDaily

The Interpretation Center was plotted in the dense urban fabric of a medieval fortified village, in an area
once referred as the Jewishquarter of Trancoso.

Starting from a ruined allotment, the aim was to re-erect a building that reinforces the corner geometry,
still displaying an acute angle on the intersection of two narrow streets, and establishing a symbolic
gesture in the context of Jewish urban culture.

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15/6/2020 Center for Interpretation of Jewish Culture Isaac Cardoso / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos + Oficina Ideias em linha | ArchDaily

Materials

Altogether, the irregular granite slab stereotomy and tiny fenestrations define the elevation towards the
two confining streets.

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15/6/2020 Center for Interpretation of Jewish Culture Isaac Cardoso / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos + Oficina Ideias em linha | ArchDaily

The massive character of the building is also reflected on the interior design and “excavated” spaces, like
a sequence of voids sculpted from within a large stone monolith.

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15/6/2020 Center for Interpretation of Jewish Culture Isaac Cardoso / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos + Oficina Ideias em linha | ArchDaily

For the exception on this sense of mass, the building is provided with the existence of a large glazing
which allows visibility over the Master Pit, a core that enhances all the Jewish culture symbolism with the
presence of water.

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15/6/2020 Center for Interpretation of Jewish Culture Isaac Cardoso / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos + Oficina Ideias em linha | ArchDaily

The excavated granite mass, where the openings are also cra ed with a special plastic approach,
prevents overall perception of interior space from the outside, also controlling lighting, recreating and
reinterpreting some of the most expressive features of Jewish Architecture in Beira Interior region.

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15/6/2020 Center for Interpretation of Jewish Culture Isaac Cardoso / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos + Oficina Ideias em linha | ArchDaily

The main room, which refers to the sacred space of the Sephardic Synagogue and the Synagogue of
Tomar (also in Portugal) has the most obvious inspiration, rising in the stony mass of the building on all
its height, filtering the sunlight to the inside through a ceiling where the complex geometry veils and
shapes the perception of all sacred space.

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15/6/2020 Center for Interpretation of Jewish Culture Isaac Cardoso / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos + Oficina Ideias em linha | ArchDaily

This area differs from the others not only for its size, but also for the lining of the vertical strained
panelling in glazed wood, providing an inner atmosphere bathed in golden light.

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15/6/2020 Center for Interpretation of Jewish Culture Isaac Cardoso / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos + Oficina Ideias em linha | ArchDaily

The religious space is dominated by the texture and the sense of rising by the wood cladding of the walls,
giving it a temperature and a particular colour and smell.

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Structure

Given the small size of the building, unique geometry and privileged location within the urban medieval
tissue of Trancoso, the option pointed towards one outer shell is insulated and coated with granite slabs
providing a ventilated façade solution.

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15/6/2020 Center for Interpretation of Jewish Culture Isaac Cardoso / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos + Oficina Ideias em linha | ArchDaily

The structure of reinforced concrete column / slab, with walls filled with brick masonry is fully lined, on
the inside, with walls and ceilings of acoustic control plasterboard.

Environment

Outside paving and coatings have the same nature, made with regional granite slabs, keeping the colors
and textures of the urban environment inside the fortified village and castle guard.

Project gallery

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15/6/2020 Center for Interpretation of Jewish Culture Isaac Cardoso / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos + Oficina Ideias em linha | ArchDaily

Project location
Address: Trancoso, Portugal

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15/6/2020 Center for Interpretation of Jewish Culture Isaac Cardoso / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos + Oficina Ideias em linha | ArchDaily

Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.

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