The workshop sessions will take place in the recently completed Arquipélago – Contemporary Arts Centre in Ribeira Grande, S.Miguel island. The project site is in Ponta das Praias, 370m (1,200 ft) away from the Arquipélago in the sea front.

A deep-sea mining company wishes to house its labour, having struck minerals in the underwater reserves of Moytirra, the first known deep-sea vents in the Azores sea on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Northwest from Ribeira Grande, S.Miguel island. The site is near the settlement of Ponta das Praias. These people are fisherman from Rabo de Peixe and Ribeira Grande and the mining company will draw its labor from them.

 

There are no restrictions as to site. A large area of practically flat plateau is available. Even facing the sea towards north, all the area is somehow protected from the north string winds.

Contrary to the majority of the cities in the islands, Ribeira Grande is on the north side of the island, but in a very prosperous agricultural area which in former times feed most of the archipelago with wheat. The dominate industry of cereals transformation provided the settlement with a system of watermills which mark the urban hierarchy and the expansion of the urban fabric. The urban settlement that was established in 1507 was followed with catastrophic natural disastrous, and only in the 20th century was elevated to the category of city.