Logradouros no edificado corrente portuense: da horta ao terreno edificável. Estudo de casos integrados em propostas de reabilitação arquitectónica

Abstract

The Yard is an essential part in the recognition of Oporto's urban structure. Evaluating the development network of the Historic City, firstly implies knowledge of its morphology and of the processes that influenced its growth. More specifically, what is proposed in this study is a thorough analysis of the genesis of the urban space, based on the knowledge of its history, relating it to the scenarios of its different systems: the yard, the house, the buildings, the plan, the city; in an integrated and symbiotic gesture. The yard has proven its urban value over time, having the capacity to absorb and structure new and renovated ways of "dwelling". The aging and the abandonment suffered by Oporto's urban center in recent years, have had devastating consequences for the whole City. The present theory, dating from a period in which the rehabilitation of this space has become not necessary, but essential, attempts to demonstrate the importance of these yards to the built spaces in the urban context. The main issues raised throughout the text relate concepts such as authenticity, identity, rehabilitation, overlapping, upgrading and rebuilding of the city, and its application to the refurbishment of these yards. The presentation of case studies allowed a closer view to actual or hypothetical cases, that proposed different ways to use these spaces, in a renewed approach to environmental sustainability, energy, economic, functional and social concepts. Urban context, Cities and societies, as dynamic elements, are always changing, therefore this paper does not claim to establish a unique and absolute way to the understanding of these issues. What is sought is to address this issue in a multiple comprehensive way, analysing and spotlighting the possibilities and potential of a recognized key element to the planning of Porto, in the past, present and future.