Pela água e pela paisagem. Pela valorização da paisagem de São Lourenço dos Órgãos

Abstract

"Pela água e pela Paisagem" is an exercise aiming to produce an understanding of the opportunities to intervene in a context where the scarcity of water restricts the possibility of development and challenges any sort of human settlement. The Archipelago of Cabo Verde, within the African continent - one of the most affected by the scarcity of water - embodies the consequences of this phenomenon thus becoming our study case. The territory within the Municipality of São Lourenço dos Órgãos in the interior of Santiago Island has been shaped by two opposite processes. On one hand, we observe the consolidation of an urban centre along the national road and the main water network, on the other hand, the rural periphery becomes relegated to a marginal position and restricted to the possibilities of further development. This dissertation aims at promoting the secular effort to tame the water which became part of this community, by qualifying the built landscape. Therefore, the importance of this research dwells in the convergence with one of our major challenges nowadays - the sustainable development of humanity.