Estremoz Quarries Research
Over the last 5 years, and in collaboration with Oxford Brookes University and the Cultural Geometries Unit, we have held an annual design residency in the Portuguese town of Estremoz, Alentejo.
We organised numerous excursions to Estremoz in which the work with students has posited temporary architectural interventions, looking to reinvigorate the redundant marble quarries for public use. We were formally approached and tasked with developing design proposals to look at regenerating a zone on the outskirts of the town covering three redundant marble quarries, derelict industrial buildings, an active church and cemetery, a historic monastery and an under utilised public park.
The site itself covers around 10,000 sq/m of industrial land and is bounded by major roads leading through Alentejo towards the Spanish border. The proposal will be developed through clear consultation with local residents, quarry workers and local design students, with the aim that the spectacular landscapes of these quarries can be made safe and accessible to the public.
The historic Portuguese town of Estremoz is key to the country's huge marble industry, second only to Italy in terms of gross exportation. The name of the town itself derives from the words ‘star’ (Estre) and ‘stone’ (Moz) referring to the particular white and reflective variety of marble found in the region.
2012-2013 Cultural Geometries with Jonathan Hagos Field Trip Students: Matthew Brown, Henry Gibbon, Kiera Hintze, Rami Kanaan, Jack Perry, Tatiana Southey-Bassols, Robert Tavare, Sally Dawn Taylor, Uday Thapa Magar, Dimitrios Tsagkaridis, Frederic Wiltshire, Thomas Atkinson, Emily Berry, Hester Buck, Charlotte Chambers, Leigh Ellis, Mia Lewis, Alex Macfarlane, Marianne Mehdizadeh, Nicola Pring, Simon Sandford, Aasmund Vinje, Richard Williams
2013-2014 Cultural Geometries with Jonathan Hagos Field Trip Students: Emily Wright, Vilde Vanberg, Sunniva Kvaleberg, Rebecca Olley, Sara Lage, William Tolfree, Frederick Howarth, Edward Gillibrand, Alexander Wheeler, Catherine Turner, Preben Holst, William Fisher, Anna Voicehovsky, Mike Armfield, Zoe Taylor, Harriet Waine, Ilia Stringari, Daniel Panico, Oliver Williams, Elli Rymiki, Nicholas Bailey
2014-2015 Cultural Geometries with Nina Gerada
2015-2016 Cultural Geometries with Matthew Brown
