2013.12.05
Porto Norte 41 Competition, 3rd Prize
Porto’s urban and architectonical heritage is impressive; historically it is a city of hard working people, with a strong industrial background; on the other hand it is incredibly dynamic and ‘avant-garde’ for what concerns culture, music and art. Today’s economic difficulties contrast with a massive flow of tourists and the Unesco heritage classification contrasts with an astonishing high number of abandoned buildings in the city center. Young people keep on leaving the country because of the lack of opportunities, despite their high professional qualifications and the urgent need of their contribution in the city’s regeneration. These are some of considerations we used as a general framework for our proposal.
The part of Porto under observation in this competition – area between Boavista and Baixa - holds a big potential, mainly due to its beautiful existing urban fabric, very little dense, with large scale courtyards, underused and filled more or less casually with constructions. Our project develops a strategy with gradual phases of implementation, working on densification, acknowledgment of existing qualities, network of connections, and conversion of non-in-use buildings.
Reuse proposals were defined for the abandoned buildings with a number of possible type-intervention, according to its position, value and degradation condition. On the other hand metro stations, public facilities and other significant buildings for the community in the nearby context were taken in consideration for the definition of a new network of pathways that cross the existing blocks, increasing permeability, reducing distances while giving the opportunity to discover the other face of the city, the courtyard side. Thus, rethinking and reorganizing the existing courtyards become yet another chance to activate public space, community production fields, leisure areas, etc.
The main building of the site, the former Companhia Aurifícia, an abandoned industrial complex that used to produce golden articles, but also screws and bolts, obtains an important role in the urban, economic and social regeneration, through a reuse project, preserving its architectonical qualities while converting it into a public, open and flexible structure.
The complexity of the theme required a strong representation concept: two 1:500 A0 axonometric views freeze two moments of the area under study: short-term and long-term scenario. These two extremely detailed drawings condense the complexity of the city, its social and economic dynamics, while illustrating a specific architectonic response for several different urban type-cases.