Meijinhos. Leitura do lugar, reconhecimento de um problema e construção de uma proposta de intervenção

Abstract

This dissertation originated from the desire to conceive a project for the settlement of Meijinhos, which belongs to the municipality of Lamego, located on the border of the Montemuro mountain range. Currently, it integrates the Union of the civil parishes of Cepões, Meijinhos and Melcões, but it may have been elevated to a village at some point in time. To find out what could be the motto of this project, in the first moment, the place was studied at various scales and through a long spectre of time, to better understand the present. In the second moment, this systematic recognition of the potential and the challenges faced in this place were crossed with the objectives of the intervention. In the third moment the program was built, a meeting centre for Meijinhos was placed in a strategic point of the urban structure, which answers to the problems of different scales, territorial, urban, public space and building. Taking into account the existence of the Caminho de Santiago do Interior and the municipal pedestrian routes, an alternative path anchored on these trails was proposed, which connects other villages in the same unit of landscape, passing through Meijinhos and the conviviality centre. This trail aims to enhance all these villages, in a logic of complementarity. The centre also serves as a hostel and as a stopover for its users, as well as for other visitors, establishing a dialogue between them and the residents. The main purpose of the intervention is to improve the quotidian life of the inhabitants of Meijinhos, making the people and the place more dynamic, which may attract new visitors and even new residents, countering the demographic decline.