Renewall and Transformation of the S. Francisco Convent into a Hospitality School
Ref: 339
ARCHITECTURE: João Luís Carrilho da Graça _______________________________________________ ADDRESS: Largo S. Francisco, Faro _______________________________________________ CITY: Faro ______________________________________________ DATE: 1993-1997 _______________________________________________ VISIT: Inside - Outside _______________________________________________ MORE DETAILS: The Convent of S. Francisco was built in front of the medieval walls, in the S. Francisco Square, in 1529. It suffered profound alterations after the 1755 earthquake, with reconstruction taking place at the end of the 18th century. The cloister, because of its architectural quality, is worthy of reference. With the expulsion of the religious orders promoted by the Triumph of Liberalism, the convent was handed to the Armed Forces. It was recently bought by the Hospitality and Tourism School of Faro, to receive a hotel/school, with architect Carrilho da Graça taking on the responsability of its recuperation and extension. The program was introduced searching to, with minimum interventions; always potentiate the architectural qualities of the existing spaces. The necessity to connect the two wings of the cloister brought about the introduction of an open-air amphitheatre. The new building, a parallelipipe in white concrete and aluminium blades, differentiates itself from the existing building by its plasticity and language. The New sulbalternates with the Old as would be expected, it attempts to delicately relate, but without always managing to. _______________________________________________
