Revitalização de um lugar esquecido em Riba d'Ave Requalificação urbanística da zona da antiga Fábrica Sampaio, Ferreira & C.ª e margens do rio Ave

Abstract

Sampaio, Ferreira & C.ª, founded in 1896 by Narciso Ferreira, was the first modern textile factory in the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão, in the village of Riba de Ave. This dissertation presents a project to redevelop the spaces and buildings of this former Sampaio, Ferreira & C.ª factory on the margins of the River Ave. The objectives of this work are to reformulate these buildings and spaces, enhancing them and proposing a revitalization of the urban center of Riba de Ave, giving a purpose to unoccupied and degraded spaces. Several project proposals and plans by other authors are presented for this area, because interest in the Sampaio, Ferreira & C.ª Factory complex has been growing, with numerous reflections and exercises on its rehabilitation and revitalization process, both by universities and by the Vila Nova de Famalicão Municipality.A diagnosis is made of the state of the spaces and buildings, concluding that there are buildings that are in better condition, but still require intervention in order to recover and revalue them, with a new program, giving them new functions. Some of the buildings have damaged structures that will have to be demolished. The proposed project presents a new overall strategy for the factory complex and its river margins. The interventions are designed in different phases: new entrances, new squares, pedestrian bridges over the river, an open-air auditorium, the demolition of some buildings and the construction of others for vehicle parking and workshops, and the redevelopment of others for a museum, a congress center, housing and schools.The chimney of the old factory fills the landscape as an emblematic element of the textile industry that marked this region of the Ave Valley. Several routes are also proposed that connect all these elements, making this project integral and bringing the local community closer to the industrial heritage. The proposal has buildings focused on various functions, so that the community can socialize and circulate in the spaces and safeguard the memory they have of them. Thus, this intervention proposal, a project on this forgotten place, is an opportunity to highlight an intention to renovate an area of the town of Riba de Ave, promoting the quality of urban life and opening up possibilities for new architectural practices.