Mercado da Póvoa do Varzim - entre o passado e o futuro

Abstract

This essay is part of an investigation project about Póvoa de Varzim market and its contribution to the growth of the town: it studies the several interventions it has suffered and presents several requalification proposals based on a sustainable construction. Several documental sources are presented and analysed that illustrate the different transformations of the market throughout a century. These transformations occurred as a response to the growth of the town and the new demands of the population. They are distinct phases that indicate the manner in which buildings were in those eras and different ways of responding to a programme that has changed throughout the time. This equipment has known three phases that are associated with three distinct architects. The first project dates back 1904 and is linked to architect Ventura Terra; the second, from 1982, whose architect is Campos Matos, is the one of the present market: the third, from architect Silva Garcia, consisted in the rehabilitation of what was left of the first market and it started in 1996. The requalification proposals presented to the market and its surrounding area want to respond to the new necessities of the society, going against the present tendency of the markets' loss of importance that are being replaced by the new commercial areas. This document is necessary to obtain a integrated Master degree in Architecture.