MSA Stage 5 School of Architecture
Sonali Vedam
The House of Power
A Contested Monument
Perched above the Douro River, the Serra do Pilar Monastery has long stood as a symbol of authority; religious, military, and territorial. Its circular church and fortified presence have witnessed centuries of power struggles, from sacred rituals to civil wars. But today, it sits at a crossroads: preserved, yet inert; protected, yet disconnected. This project questions not only how we preserve such structures, but what we preserve them for – and who they serve.
The Monastery’s architecture, shaped by exclusion, overlooks the city it once ruled. But what if power could be returned—not to the few, but to the many?
A Sequence of Renewal
The proposal reclaims the Monastery of Serra do Pilar as a civic forum, an active participant in Porto’s future, not just a remnant of its past. The intervention unfolds as a layered journey, reactivating the site from city edge to energetic core.
It begins with reconnection, a new Green Belt tied that ties the site to Porto’s civic life, not just to reach the monastery, but to rise with it. Transit lines are extended, thresholds are reimagined, and the once-guarded plateau becomes a stage for public arrival. No longer a citadel of exclusion, the site now invites gathering, celebration, and transformation. The thesis introduces a Centralised building typology that unites administrative, scientific and educational spaces that are designed for public participation, a civic monastery that preaches and practices on the same ground. Here, people come not only to pass through, but to witness Porto’s metamorphosis into a global green powerhouse. A place where civic life and climate leadership converge. A place where architecture lifts people; physically, symbolically into a shared future. A future of possibility, of scale, of ethical power.
Overview
Precessional Development
The architectural process begins by completing the unfinished geometry of the original monastery, tracing its spatial logic to uncover the primordial philosophies embedded in its design. These underlying principles guide key interventions: for instance, the central dome is inverted to form an amphitheatre, transforming a space once reserved for divine authority into one of civic dialogue and informal public gathering. Additionally, the existing bell tower serves as a historical anchor, its presence echoed and reinterpreted in the new Movement Tower – symbolically a larger bell tower, functioning as a wake-up call for the city. Not one that signals prayer, but urgency, transition, and collective action.
The Processional Exhibition – A Monastic callback
The Exhibition Building forms the threshold of the new intervention – a processional hall where visitors move through a suspended sequence of exhibits, framed by a rhythmic interplay of arches and trusses. This journey culminates at the Final Exhibit: the Movement Tower.
