Trazas de Pontevedra: AGi Architects’ Plan for Enhancing Galicia’s Archaeological Heritage

Pontevedra, Spain

Project Status: Built

Year: 2021

Size: 1000 sqft – 3000 sqft

Trazas de Pontevedra – The project Trazas de Pontevedra was initiated by a public competition organized by the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda. The competition sought the best intervention for 18 Galician-Roman settlements in the province of Pontevedra, Spain. AGi architects were selected for the project, which focuses on musealisation and enhancement of the sites. The first stage of the project was carried out in three of the 18 sites, laying the foundation for the entire project. The goal is to create a network for the reinterpretation of Galicia’s archaeological landscape. AGi’s approach to the project is sensitive and respectful to the surrounding environment of each site. The aim is to provide a distinct, simple, and sustainable identity for each site, offering a unique experience for visitors and driving local tourism.

Architizer chatted with Joaquín Pérez-Goicoechea, Principal & Founding Partner at AGi architects, to learn more about this project.

Architizer: What inspired the initial concept for your design?

Joaquín Pérez-Goicoechea: Our competition proposal took as its starting point the intrinsic nature of the proposed program: the creation of a space for the preservation of memory in a natural environment chosen as a living place hundreds of years ago. The proposal enhanced the apprehension of the natural and archaeological landscape, bringing the observer closer to nature but also to that imagined and projected abstract world, through a non-formal intervention. As a natural museum, it recreated the memory of landscape through the maintenance, consolidation and recovery of the lost native vegetation. In order to do this, a guiding proposal, an abstract system composed of different layers, was established with the intention of transferring ad hoc knowledge for each of the sites, integrating them into a unique network for the interpretation of the Galician archaeological landscape.

This project won in the 10th Annual A+Awards! What do you believe are the standout components that made your project win?

I think our sensitive approach to the project as a whole is a key factor.

AGi architects have approached the project as a natural museum where the memory of the landscape is recreated by means of native vegetation, different layering patterns—sound, lighting, ground, and routes—, and a “information pikes” system used as generative and museum-building elements. This creates a cohesive overall experience that brings both the natural and that abstract, imagined, and designed world closer to the observer.

Each of the three forts in this first stage has been provided with access points and routes, with signage to designate the intervention areas and the preventative protection of the sites, as well as singular elements for its musealisation, with the aim of providing the public with a historical narrative around these prehistoric settlements of great scientific, historical, heritage, and so

What was the greatest design challenge you faced during the project, and how did you navigate it?

The greatest challenge was to preserve the essence and nature of each “castro” while providing to all of them with a common narrative to be able to develop an entire museography, landscape and renovation project, a natural museum for a memorable visit. We designed transferrable strategies to be implemented in all the sites included in “Trazas de Pontevedra”, with landscape and material approaches that adapt to each local environment in order to preserve their own distinct essence and personality.

How did the context of your project — environmental, social or cultural — influence your design?

Totally. Context was everything in this project.

What drove the selection of materials used in the project?

Sustainability, durability and easy maintenance as well as both native vegetation and materias.

How do you believe this project represents you or your firm as a whole?

It represents the spirit and sustainable approach of our design firm. The fact that this project has been awarded several international prizes in recent years makes us feel very proud of this intervention.

Team Members

Joaquín Pérez-Goicoechea, Nasser Abulhasan, Pablo Sánchez de Vega, Laura Sedano, Nicolás Martín, Lucía Azurmendi, Alfredo García, Pablo López, Gonzalo Conde, Javier del Pozo, Carlota G.Touet

For more on Trazas de Ponteverda, please visit the in-depth project page on Architizer.