A Nova Arquitetura das adegas durienses: uma renovada utilização da luz natural nos projetos destes espaços

Abstract

Natural light in Douro wine cellars "From the best wine cellar comes the best wine" (...) (Popular) "The sun has never met its beauty until it has lightened the front of a building." Le Corbusier "Wine production plays a vital role in the Region (...), and the growing need of producing the cheapest quality wines, has led farmers to modernize vineyards and producers to modernize their wine cellars". Teixeira, L., Andrade, Guiné, R. P. F. - ""Industrial Plan of a wine cellar and centre of exploitation of sub-products" - Seminary Work for a Licentiate Degree Project in Agro- Nourishing Industry of Agrarian School from High Polytechnic Institute in Viseu.Douro is a region of great potential, with singular characteristics concerning landscape, climate luminosity, favourable to quality wine production. In the present built reality from Douro, most new buildings designed to wine production (usually called "wine cellars") clearly show an elementary architectonic attitude. The basic need to quarter the necessary equipment to the production of wine at the lowest cost, leads to the adaptation of "easy and cheap" constructive models based on industrial nave industry, which pragmatically solve the container problem, but neglect not only the problem of the environmental impact (whether built or not) but also the inner space quality. The architect has been called to co-operate (mainly as a consequence of normative demands from "Douro World Heritage") in the building of the new wine cellars from Douro. In this co-operation, unquestionably important as regards the qualification of Douro landscape, the architect's attitude has mainly been the one of having in mind the "respect for landscape" (understanding natural environment is good, not damaging it is better, contributing to its improvement is excellent...), qualifying architectonically the container, assuming, then, that "Architecture corrects Nature" (Eduardo Souto Moura). However, the architect's role in the formalization of this built patrimony in Douro landscape, has been the one of granting a certification of "quality" to the commercial image of Oeno-tourism, performing as a "bridge" between the oenophilist's "good taste" and the architectonic "good taste", both so in fashion in urban environments of medium-high class from where consumers of this product come. I think that the architect can also play an other role (more of essence and less of appearance...) in the effort of qualification: sensitiveness, formation and domain of the tools at his disposal. Allows and forces him to a specialized attention on some of the essential ingredients - sometimes not seen by common sensibility - on the qualification of architectonic space in general and on the space of wine cellars in Douro in particular. Among them, I consider that the natural light domain and its role on space qualification (the wine cellar), on product improvement (the wine), and also on the increasing of people's quality of life, deserves, undoubtedly, a more attentive look from us. The subject "light" always emerges as a basis of Architecture. The architect must always plan the buildings having in mind the natural light as a means of making possible its use. Nevertheless, recent appearing of new artificial thermal conditioning technologies and advances on glass industry, have been preventing architecture from performing its main role, choosing artificial resources. On the other hand, the concern with formal and programmatic aspects turns adaptation to climate to a second plan, turning energetic consumerism extremely high. The nearly obsession that artificial light solves all problems leads to the uniformity in the treatment of spaces, which definitely doesn't contribute to environmental qualification. What is the importance of natural light in a wine cellar in Douro?