Contributos para Salvaguarda e Intervenção do Património da Habitação Plurifamiliar Moderna em Portugal: Proposta de Reabilitação no Bairro de Ramalde e no Bairro das Estacas

Abstract

The present work focuses on the identification and reflection on a set of issues associated with the devaluation of the heritage of modern architecture in Portugal, recalling the weight and importance of such historical, social and architectural values in the context of Portuguese cultural evolution. The research developed aims to develop a study and respond to design problems of intervention and updating of affordable multifamily housing complexes built in the mid-twentieth century which are recognized for their historical and architectural value. Several elements and materials of these assets are in a process of devaluation and degradation, and must be rethought and readapted to the requirements of use that contemporary demands, preserving original attributes and trends related to the historical identity. How is it possible to intervene in each case in order to reconcile historical values and characteristics with current living parameters? And to what extent, in the face of a necessary intervention, is it necessary to alter/transform the founding principles that are at the genesis of each project, to which a spatial and formal quality and specific ways of living were associated? This theme addresses the threshold between the interventional design practice in heritage and the importance of criteria and principles to be considered in order to preserve heritage authenticity. With the objectives presented, we seek to deepen this theme, through the recognition of this problem of frequent devaluation in Portugal, as well as reflection on possible strategies and methods to be adopted in different case studies. For this, it is proposed a recognition and characterization of the general problems of devaluation of these buildings, as well as the main factors responsible for this increasingly common phenomenon. Together, it seeks to be based on a historical context concerning each case study and the evolution and importance of each one in the context of the Modern Movement, in order to make a correct interpretation and understand the values to be protected. In order to contribute to the resolution of this problem, the guiding principles to be adopted in the context of intervention in this type of building are selected and characterized. In addition, several project references are selected and characterized and methodologies are identified in the context of intervention in the heritage of modern social housing. Finally, hypotheses for updating this type of building are tested, through intervention proposals in two case studies, concerning two housing neighborhoods built in different contexts, namely Bairro de Ramalde, in Porto, and Bairro das Estacas, in Lisbon. We consider it to be the architect's duty to pay attention to the degradation, adulteration and loss of modern heritage, namely of a vast set of residential buildings and equipment built at this time in Portugal. In addition to its safeguarding, it is necessary to consider intervention principles that allow for the improvement of operating conditions, adapting them to contemporary requirements, respecting the founding principles of the initial project. Such intervention principles must assume a commitment with the intervening actors and comply with a periodic intervention and maintenance plan, in order to preserve and conserve the authenticity of the work.