The Square and Tourist Office, Piódão (Praça e Posto de Turismo, Piódão), is a rehabilitation project that reconfigures the Piódão Square and the tourist office building, located in the Serra do Açor, in central Portugal. One of 12 villages to be included in the Historic Villages of Portugal list, Piódão enjoys the benefits of the government’s Historic Villages Program, which aims to restore and promote villages and human settlements with significant contributions to the history of Portugal. The project was one of two finalists in the Emerging category for the 2024 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture—Mies van der Rohe Awards.

The village is typified by a built landscape of cascading houses with sloping roofs, constructed in the locally sourced schist. Steep and narrow streets cut across the houses on a north-west facing escarpment, culminating at the Cónego Manuel Fernandes Nogueira square. In the mostly hilly terrain, not only is the square the only oblate, unobstructed, open space available for public use but also serves as the primary access to the village. Over time, the square has been encroached by vehicles and functioned as a makeshift car park. The Square and Tourist Office thus, reinstates the public status of the square by serving as an instance of unobstructed community architecture for the villagers.

Designed by Paula del Rio and João Branco of studio Branco Del-Rio, the rejuvenated public space results from reconfigured boundaries, realigned axes, and readjusted edge conditions. Located at the lower plane of the escarpment, the square forms the base of the village, providing a vantage to the elevated houses. Along the edge of the site, an assemblage of cherry trees prevents vehicles from entering the site and acts as a visual barrier. The trees add an element of intrigue by concealing the elevated village, which before this instance could only be seen from a distance when approaching by car.

The site has an irregular shape, with the village church, the tourist office, houses with restaurants and cafes, and streets leading off it. The square in its original form therefore lacked a distinct axis. The site is reoriented around the church with the addition of a central circle, which envelops an existing bust, as well as the trees on site.

The conspicuous church structure orients the users, not simply because of its raised plinth and white colour, but also because of the grand steps, which land directly on the paved square, fronted by the central circle.

The pedestrianisation of the square negates the obligation of including curbs, which lends itself to creating an even and unobstructed layout. This allows villagers and tourists alike to interact directly with the built form, without the unnecessary intermediary footpath. Additionally, it enables universal accessibility.

The new tourist office is designed to clean the structure of all redundant elements internally while respecting the fabric of the context on the exterior. The entrance features a shed constructed from metal columns, wooden beams, and schist roofs, creating a cohesive relationship between the tourist office, the square and the buildings that make up its context.

The project employs the use of the locally sourced schist, blending seamlessly with the surrounding architecture, predominantly constructed from the same material. Through subtle interventions such as paving, tree planting, and the addition of two porches designated for the tourist office and public toilets, the architects have successfully rejuvenated a once-neglected public space swallowed by urbanisation. This intervention not only harmonises the square with its environment but also restores its vitality, offering a renewed communal space for residents and visitors alike.