Central Porto is a UNESCO Heritage Site, a status which essentially freezes the city in its current state. This project proposes an alternative approach that embraces the concept of ongoing construction and seeks to reconnect the site, including the cathedral, with the city.

Built on a solid granite massif, Port has historically utilised stone as a construction material for centuries, forming a geological layer of lapidary inhabitation. Stone represents both stability and motion, embodying a paradox of stasis in motion. It is a vessel of collective memory of the city, changing and transitioning from one building to another, while still retaining traces of its original characteristics.

Engaging in a dialogue with the entire site of the Sé do Porto, local stone is quarried, and the material and memories rebalanced to construct a new living quarter. Contemporary living spaces and social anchor points are introduced to re-stitch the neighbourhood, addressing its state of decay and dysfunctionality. Stone forms the stable foundation for multi-sited, simultaneous constructions, creating a living environment that embraces the history and materiality embedded within the stone.