Requalificação das construções tradicionais madeirenses - estudo e reflexão da Casa da Quinta Grande

Abstract

"Requalification of Madeira's traditional buildings" consists of the study and reflection of a single family housing project in Quinta Grande, Câmara de Lobos - Madeira Island. It is an island, strongly marked by a humanized landscape, with a large sea front and, a few kilometers away, mountains covered with several trees. The work focuses on the requalification of the rural building, which has been increasingly debated regarding the disciplinary field of architecture. The interest in extending the study and reflection on the traditional constructions aims at its recovery and expansion adequate to the current needs, new constraints and consequently new forms of construction. The work is developed in three stages. In the first stage, it focuses on a brief study of all the forms of architecture that have settled on the island, highlighting the four structuring elements of history, culture and Madeira landscape: the terraces, the basaltic stone walls, the levadas (water transport channels) and the trails. After completing this step it is shown the farmer's house and the evolution which the state suffered over the years, through a brief retrospective in time and based on the understanding of the archetypes of Madeira's architecture. In the second phase, it is analyzed and interpreted the conditions and principles of intervention, complementing it with case studies that serve as a methodological reference of the project. The last phase brings together the developed process of the project and the final designs of the proposal. The objective of this research is to question the intervention strategy on the existing one of popular origins, reconciling it with the recent needs of a rural life and valuing their cultural, historical, natural and architectural characteristics.