In Favour of Collaborative Research Methodologies. The Case of the Architectural Design for the Renewal of São Francisco de Real Convent, in Braga, Portugal

This paper reports on the architectural design process for the reuse of Sao Francisco Convent and its adaptation into the Archaeology Unit of Minho University, which was conducted in a strong interdisciplinary collaboration between several disciplines, such as Archaeology, History and Engineering. The convent was built in the sixteenth century, reusing the 7th century pre-existing mausoleum of Sao Frutuoso and the medieval monastic installations, undergoing a deep reform during the 18th century. Responding to contemporary functional and symbolic demands over the centuries, the ensemble’s spatial metamorphoses were not registered and this lack of information originated relevant academic debates throughout the 20th century.