La Revitalización de una Comunidad. Oliveira de Azeméis: Propuesta de una Arquitectura Participativa

Abstract

The interest in the argument of this dissertation is directed towards the interest in the unification of communities, both socially and physically, achieved through the proposal of urban reprogramming of a current existing territory, based on the fundation of participational techniques both public and collective. For this purpose, a personal experience developed during the 5th year of the Integrated Master of Architecture at the University of Porto will be taken as the case of study, case in which the territory presents a fracture, generated by the imposing presence of the IC2 highway, it's invaded by the industrial zone and which does not present sufficient public collective areas for the usufruct of the community or visitors. The methodology will consist on the identification and analysis of problems that arise in communities where common spaces for the pleasure of the public are almost non-existent, creating a lack of integrity, participation and gradualness, and establish how, based on the problems identified, is it possible to arrive at an intervention response to propose, in a general way, to any community that presents similar problems. Next, general participatory and adaptive models will be taken as examples of an appropriate methodology for the unification of a community - showing different methodologies with different techniques, arguing that there should not be an absolute model, but several ways of addressing the same problem -, capable of to adapt to the situation of different communities that are victims of fracturization. For this it will be necessary to make use of the knowledge and skills of the residents of the place, as well as the voluntary participation of individuals in a conscious and responsible manner - advised by architects and urban planners - in order to provoke community intervention operations and recover the quality of urban life. The work developed during Project 5 in the Oliveira de Azeméis territory will be taken as a case study for the formulation, identification and analysis of existing problems, with the intention of managing a participatory and sustainable methodology, supported by appropriate techniques for the already existing problems.