The project of the rehabilitation of the Residence André de Gouvéia or House of Portugal in the « Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris », built by the Galouste Gulbenkian foundation, is a real stake in the memory and the identity of the building. Indeed, the Residence joins in the heart of the respectable residences by prestigious architects Lucio Costa (Maison du Brésil) and Le Corbusier (Maison Suisse).

Forty-five years later, strengthen by these constructions, the Residence André de Gouvéia has to show a contemporary and respectable face in front of these hosts of the past.

Memory as a goal, peculiarity of the ornamentation as a contemporary tool. The unique Portuguese heritage of the building lies in the treatment of the exterior pavements. From a traditional sidewalk in white and black calçadas mosaic, we decided to re-use this motive, remarkable all over the world, to transfigure this identity to the project.

As a lace masking a face, a drilled and golden metallic mantilla plays respectfully with the austere image of the existing building. The Portuguese baroque is expressed at its best in the iconography of this project. The existing building get painted black and the calçadas re-adapted on the aluminum panel restores the inscription of the building and its origins.

The drawing of calçadas was raised and stacked in the size of the panels ; to mark the floral shape, we established two slightly different sizes for the elongated punch holes .Side by side, the motive appears subtly, as the variations of the hooks in a lace.