Carrilho da Graça Arquitectos recently won the international competition for the protection project and musealization of the Gallo-Roman villa of Séviac, in Montréal-du-Gers, France. The project sets up a protective device and does not relate to a known typology that is a technical device with its own logic – a homogeneous-looking device that creates an event – which does not compete with the archaeological remains, but rather gives a new insight into the importance and influence of the villa. The event: to take this opportunity to give contemporary architecture its legitimate place in Gers. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The international competition with pre-selection was held by the s.i.v.u. Elusa-Séviac, which provided an opportunity to create a protection system for the villa’s ruins, whose mosaic pavements stand out as the most important element. The Gallo-Roman villa of Séviac, located in Montréal-du-Gers, in the Midi-Pyrénées region, was first discovered in the 19th century and was listed as a national heritage site in 1978. The excavations that took place over the last four decades unearthed the ruins of a roman villa, which reached its height during the late roman empire, in the third and fourth centuries ad.
