Arquitetura Escolar enquanto Estratégia Urbana. Redignificação e recentralização da escola na cidade

Abstract

This dissertation, which is part of the ESCOLAS: Complexidade e Interpretação research project, is motivated by the study of the refurbishment of public-school buildings carried out by Parque Escolar E.P.E. since 2007, focusing on the relationship between the building and its surrounding urban context. The main premise is that, just as architectural ideals change over time, so does the relationship that architecture establishes with its urban environment. Added to this is the understanding that the urban relationship is not restricted to the links that the building creates with the urban fabric; in other words, it also involves the links between the community and the equipment, as well as the dynamics that it encourages in everyday life. It was deemed opportune, initially, to contribute to the understanding and clarification of the concept of urban relationship, and subsequently, to chronologically conduct the dissertation, addressing the different historical periods, architectural convictions, and urban planning approaches of each era. While firmly establishing considerations regarding the urban relationship between the built environment and its surroundings, along with its consequent implications on the city and the lifestyles it engenders, this research also maintains an awareness of the diminishing quality of school buildings, both in terms of their integration within the city and their architectural design. The commitment of the school as a significant public facility impacting the city has gradually deteriorated as the number of constructions has increased, until the revival of the notion that schools play a role in shaping the city, particularly through the efforts of Parque Escolar E.P.E. Thus, this presented work selected three case studies with the intention of examining the urban and architectural strategies used to recentralize the school within the city space, a universal objective in the interventions of the Secondary School Modernization Program.