The Site Mirador Competition asked participants to design a Site Mirador and visitor center amid the ruins of the Santo Ignácio do Zavial Fortress in Algarve, Portugal.
The fortress, located on the southwest coast of Portugal, was built in the 17th century as part of the coastal defensive strategy to protect the Zavial harbor from the imminent danger of attacks and incursions. The Fortress collapsed in the 1755 earthquake and was never rebuilt.
In the second half of the 18th century, the Zavial Battery and small barracks located
at the rear were built on the edge of a cliff near the Fortress remains. The battery
was abandoned in 1840.
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The Zavial battery, isolated in a prominent location, is a powerful natural scenery.
The remains of the battery rise from the landscape and together with the fragile cliff edges eroded by the force of the ocean are notable features within this setting.
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Zavial Battery remains untouched, and yet, a full re-animation unfolds. A steel form prys open the earth, facilitating a journey into the past.
As one traverses downward inside the cliff, augmented reality glass unfolds one of the many battles of the Peninsular War for the Zavial Battery. What at first appears to be a smudge in the distance, soon reveals itself to be a batallion of naval ships invading the suddenly intact Zavial Battery.
As one proceeds along the path embedded in the cliffside, the story unfolds, climaxing in the arrival of the battalion as the Zavial Battery crew defend their shores.
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