A Arquitetura dos Centros Comerciais do Porto

Abstract

The concept of the "Centro Comercial" was used throughout centuries to characterize urban centres centralizing commercial activity. However, today, the same term is used to define new commercial architectural forms, which is addressed in this Master's degree proof. As such, some existing buildings in the Grand area of Porto are selected as case stu-dies. As a result of an evolutionary process of pre-existing models, including the French Ga-leries and later the Grands Magasins, the appearance of Shopping Centres revolutionized the forms of retailing. Although they already existed in national territory and geographic locations in the city centres since the seventies, never have these buildings reached the degree of success reached by the ones constructed in the last fifteen years especially in the periphery of the cities. If on one hand it is unquestionable the important role it has had in giving the suburbs their identity, on the other they are equally responsible for the conse-quences suffered by the traditional centers in which downtown Porto has not escaped. As such it is necessary to reverse the situation to which these cities became exposed, the most effective solution would be to reproduce the peripheral models for buildings of the same type built in the center. But how do you explain the success rate achieved by these Shopping Centres? What is the role of the architect in a project of this size that serves an infinite amount of consumers and which is an important mark in cities?