Bright Shade
Europan 12 - Vila Viçosa (PT)
Vila Viçosa is located in the South-west of Portugal, in the middle of the Alentejo region. The landscape is characterized by a constant horizontality, with a few, low hills, and it’s deeply marked by an extensive zone of marbles mining. The Mediterranean vegetation it’s mainly composed by olive trees and corks, the climate is hot and dry. A huge Dam was build in the past years to mitigate the climate effect and help the Alentejo water lack: actually the 250 sq.km Alqueva lake, located about 60 km south to Vila Viçosa, is the largest water mirror in Europe. The population is concentrated in a few large towns, with the largest centrality in Évora, or in small cities with a clear boundary between the urban areas and the landscape. The population density is equally low. The city of Vila Viçosa, with about 4000 inhabitants, is deep in this landscape, lays by the hills and the marble caves, articulating a social and functional net together with the near a Borba, Estremoz e Elvas. With this cities Vila Viçosa has a daily economic, commercial, industrial relationship. There is also a net of common primary services shared between towns. Evora remains the reference for the secondary facilities (university/rail station/etc...). The main connection is the A6 Alentejana highway, that cross all the Alentejo, and goes on towards Spain with the name of Euroroute E90. Transport is mainly by truck. A good net of national and local roads support the highway and con-nected the whole region. Recent interventions lead to the construction of a variant of the 255 national road, allowing direct access to the A6 highway, avoiding the heavy trucks to pass into the city centre and offering a new global perception, from a high level, of the entire urban landscape of Vila Viçosa. Talking economics, the leading element is still the mar¬ble industries, despite of a beginning of a decadence phase. On the other hand in the past few years the tourism demand increased, due to religious or cultural events. Vila Viçosa it’s been for a long period an important cultural centre of the south Portugal, thanks to the Duque of Bra¬gança, that established there their residence. The historical and cultural her¬itage is still alive and marks the city centre, with some monumental episodes. The local municipality decided to protect and enforce this potentiality, and approved a Strategic Plan for Urban Regeneration of Vila Viçosa (reViVe), as a coordination and optimization instrument supporting the plan¬ning previsions on the territory. The primary aim is to start a systematic operation of urban regeneration, whose priority is local development and urban refurbishment.
The plan proposal is to work not only over the historic centre, but also to contribute integrate the industrial areas, and the residential suburban areas. It calls a multiplicity of subjects to collaborate and operate over the city, whether they are public or private.
Strategic site
The strategic site is approximately 80 ha, and includes the Southwest area of the Vila Viçosa municipality. The area contains a variety of urban characters. Starting from the city centre, it shows consolidated areas, with public services, as largo Gago Coutinho, reconversion and rehabilitation areas as Lapa Herit¬age Site and Railway area, expectant areas to transform, mixed areas as the working class neighbourhood from 50’s and the expansion of Quinta Augusta from the 80’s, industrial areas, and finally olive plantation. The entire strategic site con be read as a gradient from artificial urban landscape to the natural one.
Project site
The project site is approximately 6, and inside of the stra¬tegic site represents the south entrance to Vila Viçosa. The area is surrounded by many of the potentialities of the strategic site. North¬ward, boards on the arrive of the old railway. This abandoned path is about to be transforming into a new cycling lane, called Greenway. A new alternative connection between Vila Viçosa, Borba and Estremoz, setting a slow mobility concept. Next to the Greenway, there is the Lapa Heritage Site, which is already under transformation, in order to set a better space for cultural and religious events. To the east of the project site, the horizon is open towards the landscape. The profile is characterized by a olive plantation, planned as a natural regeneration area, open to the citizens for en plain air activities.
To the south, southwest the project site border on the in¬dustrial areas, and on the new residential interventions.
The whole site is deeply marked by the industrial heritage: warehouse, depot, and infrastructures for the marble production cover almost the entire south wing. Most of these buildings are abandoned, but some of them are still operative. The Marbrito, on the south-west corner, is a recent construction.
The site is divided in two parts by the Henrique Pousão Alameda, connecting the new roundabout with the city centre. This road is the main axe of entrance to Vila Viçosa. On his side lay the only historical heritage of the site, Biquinha Aqueduct, a singular infrastructure of public water supply. To the north of Henrique Pousão Alameda two warehouses have already been reconverted into a gym and a mechanic’s workshop.
Territorial strategy
The decay of the marble industry in the past few years, mark a critic point for the development of the region, but it could be also turned into its the large scale production settled down till now, has to be transformed and focused on the highly specialized production. According to this Vila Viçosa could become an excellence focal point for the marble industry. The reconversion of the existing structures allows a gradual change, taking advantage by the industrial buildings and facilities on site. This leading action should be help by a strengthening of the Alentejo remarkable elements. The development of the touristic sector, with a focus on the conscious and aware discovering of the territory. A new perspective over the landscape, and the connections between towns, natural areas and agricultural landscape. All these elements could be organized as a net, improving the connections and settled down a clear focus point, as a new access to the city. With a single action is possible to reach two targets: clearly mark the edge between anthropic and natural landscape, avoiding the loss of the urban limit and define a new centrality, at the very entrance of the city, balancing the historical centre, and turning the Henrique Pousão Alameda into a new urban boulevard.
The whole Alentejo suffers of population aging and declining birth rate. First, the interventions have to be oriented to the local population. It’s a primary duty of the project to give citizens reasons and tools not to abandoned the territory. The right use of the Alentejo region can offer such opportunities, giving birth to a new upstanding life-cycle. The landscape offers work and opportunities to the citizen, and the citizen care the landscape as a foremost necessity, to improve these endowments. Only once the mechanism start is it possible to work on other elements, such as the improvement of tourism and external resources. A well territory site become itself promoter.
The primary aim to pursue is the work on the actual weaknesses (destroyed landscape, abandoned factory / etc...) in order to plan a project as flexible as possible, both on the temporary and on the functional side. The public spaces are planned as recognizable pieces of landscape, open to different uses, in the different moments of the day and of the year. A city facility, a device in the citizen’s hands, that turns a growth strategy into a concrete project.
The proposal is to set up a highly specialized school of the marble manufacturing, and a B.I.C., business innovation centre, in the old restored industrial warehouses, together with a centre for the promotion of the territory, and other small services located in some new buildings. The aim is o involve in this regeneration program as much participants as possible: companies, teachers and students of the school, local population, tourists, in order to guarantee a functional mix in the site life.
Realization phases - Um desenvolvimento por fases deixas a possibilidade para uma diversificação dos cenários possiveis.
The strategy described, needs an organization of distinct and clear temporal phases, in order to support the growth rhythm of the operation. Another need is to guarantee enough uncertainty margins, to accommodate as much scenarios as possible.
Starting from a zero point three different steps are planned.
Phase 1: The abandoned industrial warehouses and depots are demolished. The Marbrito, the shed shape building and the warehouses on the north side of the site, are preserved. The land is improved. In the north side, a connection with the Greenway is set down, to activate the first section of the new slow mobility path.
Phase 2: On the south side of the project area, start the construction of the square, and above it, of the big roofs that host a new building. The old shed shape building is turn into the highly specialized school, and next to it a new symmetrical building with houses for students and teachers. The contraction of the cycling lane goes on towards Estremoz and on site towards the city centre.
Phase 3: The Marbrito pavilion stops the industrial production and turns into the B.I.C. Centre, directly connected to the school. Some small services are activate on the new square to support and implement the new functions. The cycling lane reach the city centre reactivating the primary connections. The big roof could be improved if necessary.
The project - O projeto combina o carácter industrial com uma nova maneira de experimentar e olhar para o território alentejano.
The architectonic project chooses to preserve the industrial character of the site, reusing some elements. The project wants to connect the preservation and value of the existing elements, through the introduction of a new way of live and observe the landscape. The new building planned on site take the shape of a big roof. In its depth the new common functions are host. The raising of the building allows watching the horizontality of the landscape from a new, high point of view. In the meanwhile the ground beneath the roof is completely released, and create an open, protected polifunctional space. In the surroundings a square/park and a net of new pedestrian paths, reconnected new and old functions, defining a new focus point for Vila Viçosa.
The west area
The west part of the project site is intended to be a filter between the natural landscape and the beginning of the urban context. In this area are localize the two industrial buildings, the arbrito and the shed pavilion, to preserve.
The roundabout marks the entrance to the city. Till that point the trees matrix follow the one of the olive plantation, tracing the natural grid of the surroundings. The existents buildings seal the edge of the city. To the southwest, the Marbrito, recently build, continue the industrial production, thanks to the two independent entrances on the south limit of the site.
The shed shape building is bring back to its original status, and adapted to host a highly specialized school for the marble manufacturing. Inside this building are located all the spaces reacted to the didactic activities: classrooms workshops, offices and so on. A big multifunctional space dedicated to the common activities run along the entire length of the building and open towards the square to the east. The glass wall of the new facade allows creating a spatial continuum between interior and exterior spaces, and in the meanwhile enhancing the original shed structure. A new boulevard run along this side of the school and connects the site from north to south. The overhead cranes, heritage of the industrial activity, are relocated on site, simulating gates to experience, crossing the boulevard.
On the opposite side of the building, a new building is settled, symmetrical to the shed one. This new construction hosts houses for students and teachers of the school, and has the same proportions and dimensions of the original one, but different materials.
The north area
The Henrique Pousão Alameda separates the north area from the other parts of the project site. The landscape boundary is mark by the cycling lane that set up the first section of the Greenway. The existents buildings, a gym and a mechanical workshop, are preserved in regard of their consolidated activities. The flooring is designed according to the one in the south part of the site, in order to unify and give visual and functional coherence to both the areas. A little pavilion is plan near to the beginning of the cycling lane, as a place to rent and repair bicycles.
The south-east area
The southeast part of the project site overlooks the city and represents the heart of the whole intervention. The entire area is plan to be a square/park, with a flooring of different textures and colours, made by stabilised earth and gravel, so that more than the 75% of the site is permeable. The soil has a light grade starting from zero at the lim¬it of the area and finishing on a platform at -1.00 m. in the middle.
The earth floor is crossed by a net of white marble raceways growing in density toward the centre. On the soil appears a new geometrical drawing, an abstract adaptation of the local marble manufacturing. At the intersection of the raceways, some pavilions rise up: their different dimensions are able to accommodate a variety of functions, such as a cafe, an internet point, a kiosk. One pavilion is dedicated to the renewal of the existed kindergarten, previously located on the east side.
In the middle of the area the flooring set up a huge plane square, flooring with white marble and black calçada raceways. The geometrical drawing of the floor reflects as a mirror the structural matrix of the roof on top. This plan is placed to be the heart of the area, and to gather the remarkable path of Rua André Gomes Pereira, coming from the city centre. The big dimension, 6300 sqm, and the lack of obstruction allow the square to be a big multifunctional space for collective activities: temporary fairs, markets, cultural and religious events, etc.. . The intersections of the black raceways conceal, holes for poles and temporary structures so that the space can change configuration easily and quickly. The preciosity of the flooring symbolize a gift to the city, a device that occupy and functionalized the without obstruct the view.
Protected by a big roof, the square is ready for a everyday use, in each season, overshadowed in the summer and sheltered in winter time. The only fixed elements are the vertical connections, that are also the pillars of the roof. the horizontal structure is conceived as a three-dimensional reticular plate, 4 meters high, divided into a matrix of 15x15 meters. The heart of this plate is closed by a glass wall to host common facilities of the school, service for the citizens, a cafe, and the centre for the promotion of the territory. The floor plan is free so that a high flexibility can be guarantee. The big roof is visible both at the entrance to Vila Viçosa and in the exit from the city, and represents on one hand a “luxury” occasion, a belvedere, for whom are inside of the building, and on the other hand a focus point for whom are outside.
The building is undefined, modular and enlargeable, on purpose to mark itself as a machinery, a device, an instrument in the hand of both citizens and tourists. Through it they can capitalise, live and fully understand the territory.
