Alvaro Siza, a famous visionary architect, is called to coordinate the rehabilitation of the monuments and architectural heritage of the Cidade Velha (Old City), in Santiago, one of the African islands in Cape Verde. This project is creating great expectations among the local population, who envisage it as a way of improving their lifestyle. The film tells the story of the encounter between these two worlds, two cultures, with two different life concepts and two ideas of what modernity should be.