Ensaio para um Projecto de Intervenção no Lote nº113

Abstract

The modern process, which developed the city of Oporto, led to peculiar forms of housing. Built in the interior of lots and blocks, the so-called "ilhas", contributed to the image of a city that has grown from within. The Oporto of the eighteen hundreds, hid behind the facades of bourgeois habitations, a complex process of urban development. Built by private entities, "blue-collar" neighborhoods established a matrix of rational and profitable use of urban land, and became the main form of accommodation until the early twentieth century. Nowadays, this type of housing remains an integral part of the Oporto's downtown area. The resettlement policy adopted by the municipal authorities induced the segregation of the resident population and actively contributed to deterioration of the corresponding physical space. This dissertation aims at, by assessing the spatial and urban context, understanding this housing typology, both in its origin and form, using the building of lot n.º 113 as its object of study. The proposed process of requalification and reconstruction intends to demystify the preconception associated with this set of buildings, by demonstrating through the use of drawing that spaces perceived unhealthy and precarious, sidelined by society, may acquire in their specificness new programs and functions. Lot n.º 113 thence, as project object, serves to illustrate the multifunctional capacity of buildings, apparently constrained, of becoming potential engines for the dynamization of a zone or city area.