CONVENT SAINT-FRANCOIS
Amelia Tavella, who has just received the title of Chevalier in the National Order of Merit, is com- pleting the rehabilitation and extension of the Convent Saint-François, in Sainte-Lucie de Tal- lano, Corsica, her native island.
This building, built in 1480, listed as a historical monument, partially in ruins, was dormant. The young architect had to rebuild it without separa- ting from the vestiges of the past.
With its back to the cemetery, the convent overlooks the village it watches over. It has a front and a backstage. An olive grove is like a collar at its feet, a happy garden of heavenly food. In front of him, the spectacle of the Corsican mountains, a dizzying merry-go-round of passes and ridges that seem to move in the direction of the clouds and change their dress with the seasons. Here pulses the heart of Alta Roca.
The beauty there is religious, supernatural.
Nature has grown inside the building, Siamese nature slipped between the stones and then transformed into plant armor that protects against erosion and collapse. A fig tree is in- cluded in the facade. The wood, the roots that have become structural have replaced the lime which will not have stood the test of time. An essential component of the historic mo- nument, Amelia Tavella has honored this nature that will have long protected the dormant edifice before its resurrection.
