Macau Portuguese School (Former Escola Comercial Pedro Nolasco)

About

It presents a remarkable articulation of volumes while presenting a clear functional distribution, connected through a network of interior galleries and exterior pergolas. This system leads to perceiving outer space as an extension of the working areas, generating recreational spaces such as gardens, patios and playgrounds protected from the rain that naturally cool the surrounding volumes, in what is a wise interpretation of vernacular Chinese design traditions, well fit to Macau’s subtropical climate. With a clear brutalist architectural language, it highlights the relation between the structure, in bare reinforced concrete, and the construction components– the large windowpanes, solar screens, detached walls, ventilation grids. It goes a step further by incorporating materials from the author geographies, such as Portuguese tiles, Madeira’s tapa-sóis and interpreting local traditions with Chinese courtyards and traditional Macanese woodworks and window shutters. It is a rare architectural celebration, cosmopolitan and local, technological and artisanal, a cultural tribute to Macau.