Architects: Belém Lima Arquitecto Location: Vila Real, Portugal Engineering: Norvia | coord MJ Borges Project Year: 2008 Project Area: 705 sqm Photographs: FG + SG – Fernando Guerra, Sérgio Guerra Silent and hermetic, the Vila Velha Museum appears to be the mimesis of the granite escarpments that girdle the rivers, a mimesis of archaeological labours. Within it old and archaic are linked to the new. The past runs through it like sap inside an old tree. From the outside we see a compact building, from the inside it seems to levitate, floating above nature and the ruins. Like an enigma, the Vila Velha Museum opens momentarily only to shut again.