Um bairro intemporal no Porto - unidade residencial de Ramalde

Abstract

The housing subject has been one of the most developed over the last century. Revolutions within industry, new technologies and the modern movement, allowed to transform the house as it had never been possible until then. The minimal dwelling was, within this change panorama, one of the most exciting themes that gave encouragement to maximum creativity. To solve the innumerable problems of overburden and insalubrity, from the early twentieth century, were settled minimum essential features to a healthy housing to the human being "in body and soul". From these minimum features are part sanitary and thermic matters, but also the requirement of minimum cost, ie, maximum economy, which meant that the areas were the first to be reduced. In order to achieve optimal housing, architects threw themselves over the subject, developing a wide range of theories and the most varied forms of maximum use of space. In Porto, the Ramalde residential quarter integrates in itself the reflection over the various aspects of the urban and architectural proposal. In this work, Távora plays with these conditions, studying the city and creating the district as a unit that is part of it. In order to install 6,000 people, Távora needed to study and understand all the conditions of the plan: the plot plan, the existing connection with the city, but especially the social and economic realities underpinning the project. The plan proposed by Távora was linked to an idea of the city's expansion to the west, linking the neighborhood to the major axis connecting the city with the sea, giving its inhabitants a new connection between the dwelling space and the public leisure spaces. The Modern Movement, the international discussions of architecture (CIAM), the Athens Charter and Távora's vision over the multifamily housing in height issue were the basis for the interpretation of this project, concluding that the issue of minimum housing works in all these cases as a reference point for further reflection on the housing issue. This thesis is structured in 4 parts: the city, the architect, the work and a final part of confrontation. The first part, "the city", reports, in a perfunctory manner, the framing of the city of Oporto in the field of architecture in the 40s, contrasting the different routes that have been followed by the North and South and how they influenced each other. The second part of the thesis - "the architect", aims to develop a reflection on the modern movement in architecture in Portugal, where the object of study will be the appearance of the ODAM group, as well as the important text written by Fernando Távora, "The Problem of the Portuguese house" and the influences that Le Corbusier had in Távora's course as an architect. In the third part - "the work", the goal is to make a detailed study of the Ramalde residential quarter, starting from its framing within the city, until the analysis of the interior of the homes. There will also be studied several issues such as plot plans, construction, applied materials and maximum use of space inside the homes. In the last part of the thesis, and in conclusion, we seek to understand whether Ramalde can be considered a current work and what we can learn from the design of this project by Fernando Távora.