Domus urbana romana: reflexão sobre a permanência dos princípios clássicos na arquitectura contemporânea

Abstract

The thesis presented for completion of the Master in Architecture, aims to reflect on the classical principles of roman Domus and investigate its permanence and relevance in the contemporary domestic architecture. For the identification and characterization of these principles, two fundamental sources were taken in consideration, the Vitruvius´treatise on Architecture, the first known written source on Western architecture, and the archeological site of Pompeii, the best preserved city in ancient Roman Empire. From the study of Roman domus it is possible to identify that from the second century BC, these buildings evolved from a simple residential scheme for a more diverse and complex domestic program. In adapting the ancient domus to the new requirements, we verify that no rupture is promoted, but the depuration of the essential principles of the previous architecture. These architectural principles, which may be recognized in the Form, Function and Composition of Roman Architecture, were reactivated in later times, as in the Renaissance by Leon Batista Alberti and in the Modern Movement by Tony Garnier, Hilberseimer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe or Lluis Sert. These architects were aware of the traditional Roman typologies and they recognized in the classic experiments values that led their architectural formulations in a decisive way. Also in the courtyard houses in Matosinhos, the architect Eduardo Souto de Moura gives the spaces created qualities of a classic nature, reactivating some of the principles of Roman architectural. This case study is analysed in more detail and using the same analisis criteria of the domus, allowing to understand and highlight the qualities of the courtyard house, the recommendations underlying this model and their particular interpretations. The extensive study of a set of contemporary experiments allowed the determination of the permanency of the invariant values in domestic architecture and realize that the most successful interventions were not based on the direct transposition of classical principles, but on understanding its objectives and consequent adaptation to new ways of living and requirements of the time.