The Jardim do Pensamento, next to the Monastery of Leça do Balio, is a new cultural and landscape space where PARDAIS brings its expertise in transforming natural stone to serve art, architecture and heritage, contributing to a landmark project that combines contemplation, a walking trail and sculpture within a unique setting.
The Jardim do Pensamento, next to the Monastery of Leça do Balio, stands as a new cultural and landscape landmark in the north of the country, with PARDAIS forming part of the team responsible for shaping this unique space.
A garden for thinking, walking and creating
Located next to the Monastery of Leça do Balio, a National Monument and headquarters of the Livraria Lello Foundation, the Jardim do Pensamento has been created as a space dedicated to contemplation, art and education, designed to “cultivate ideas”.
Covering around four hectares, the garden has been designed to house 14 sculptures inspired by universal concepts such as love and vigilance, inviting visitors to walk, breathe, think and create along an intimate and reflective path.
Integrated into the main cultural routes of the North – the Monasteries and Convents, Contemporary Art and Architecture, and the Ways of St James – this new space reinforces the link between heritage, art and community.
Architecture, landscape and art in dialogue
The Garden of Thought forms part of a broader vision for the regeneration of the entire Leça do Balio Monastery complex, designed by the architect Álvaro Siza Vieira and the landscape architect Sidónio Pardal.
The project includes not only the creation of this philosophical garden, but also Siza’s Open Sculpture, an ecumenical space for introspection, aligned with the monastery and deeply connected to the symbolism of the Way of St James.
Within this designed landscape, 14 granite ‘stations’ emerge – places for pausing, waiting, meeting and contemplation – which structure the route and reinforce the garden’s meditative character.
PARDAIS’s contribution
In this context of high technical and symbolic demands, PARDAIS is involved in the realisation of the Jardim do Pensamento, contributing its expertise in construction solutions using natural stone (Portuguese granite and marble) and architectural concrete, which are essential to the (distinctly) granitic and sculptural language defined by the project.
PARDAIS’s involvement in this project reinforces the company’s position in landmark projects in the fields of heritage, art and contemporary architecture, where precision, durability and quality of detail play a decisive role.
The project near the Monastery of Leça do Balio thus constitutes yet another chapter in PARDAIS’s collaboration with renowned architectural and landscape teams, serving spaces that invite us to reflect on the world.