A Torre como Elemento Urbano. Entre a Investigação e o Projeto

Abstract

A Torre como Elemento Urbano − Entre a Investigação e o Projeto, emerged during a trip to the Italian city of Milan where the idea of designing a tall building emerged. The confrontation with the skyscraper in such a typical and characteristic city, motivated the critical reflection on this vertical element that has been marking more and more the urban metropolises. Based on the understanding of the primitive idea of verticality, as well as the American skyscraper and the European response to this typology, this dissertation presents a practical design exercise for an office tower in the city of Porto. The project, located in one of the most promising areas of the city, intends to create and transform the place where it is inserted, keeping its character and enhancing it. In this way, the design of the Tower focuses on the urban environment not only as a main theme, but also as a projectual instrument in the the mode of developing the Tower and its programme. In short, from the theoretical path to the practical result, an attempt was made to highlight fundamental themes in Architecture nowadays. Thus, between sketches, ideas and motivations, this dissertation seeks to be not only a critical and personal reflection, but also a through learning opportunity for a young architectural professional.