A Praça do Mescado de Oulu. Um Estudo Prático de Espaço Público

Abstract

"When the travellers of old came to Oulu by sea, the first things they saw were the Tar exchange at the harbour, the warehouses along the shore and the houses of the richer merchant families."¹ The square has then passed from a port of arrival and departure of navy and merchant boats, to a market area whose pride tends to fade through time. Today, the space is left abandoned during the winter and is reactivated in the summer given all the bars and restaurants that fill the old historical wooden shelters. Therefore, we can say the Market Square of Oulu is in lack of a higher vocation that would turn it into an identifying space of the city itself, a space of permanent availability and togetherness, made out of infrastructures that would allow the "staying" inside the public space domain. To think about the square's real value and meaning, converting it into the free expression of the people, was the purpose I committed myself to. After all, what's a square without people?