Conceptual/Spatial Design. Porto Academy. 2019.
Workshop Mentor: Frida Escobedo
Group members: Diogo Graça, Breno Pilot, Claudia Silveira.
Brief:
Building is carving out a space at least twice:
The first time on the surface of the earth, to extract material, and the second by actually constructing a space “to hold and protect something”.
The workshop aimed to work at a proposal that works in to spaces: Extraction Site and Construction Site. Both the sites were to inform each other exposing a reciprocity of void and mass.
The sites were to address each other functionally and/or formally exploring the possible relationships between the two spaces.
Building is carving out a space at least twice:
The first time on the surface of the earth, to extract material, and the second by actually constructing a space “to hold and protect something”.
The workshop aimed to work at a proposal that works in to spaces: Extraction Site and Construction Site. Both the sites were to inform each other exposing a reciprocity of void and mass.
The sites were to address each other functionally and/or formally exploring the possible relationships between the two spaces.
Proposal:
Our proposal aimed to root the question asked in the brief to the present context. The River d’Ouro that flows through Porto has several channels and tributaries that flow below the surface of the city. An overlay of the existing city plan and the courses of these channels shows a vague overlap between the two.
We attempted to utilize this initial question of the solid-void relationship to reconnect select public spaces to the concealed channels below, looking at historic references for possible functions.
The first point of interv ention was within a residential block near the center of the city. In this particular context, collective functions that would enhance a sense of community among the residents were derived.
The extraction was made in a wide shallow form creating a communal leisure pool and the additions were made to add seating and drying platforms.
The second point of intervention is the Jardim do Carregal where an artificial pond exists. A linear volume is extracted from one side of the pond and deposited at the diametrically opposite side indicating the direction of the flow of the underground river.
The third point is the Largo Alberto Salazar, a little square that connects Rio Frio with the Fonte dos Leões, a monument in front of one of the historical building of this area and represents the source of the stream that reaches Rio Frio beneath the Centro Hospitalar do Porto.
The intervention is in the form of a shallow, wide pool whose positive form is placed vertically creating a screen like surface.
The fourth point takes place on the highest level of the stepped Jardim das Virtudes, which contains the only visible portion of Rio Frio. A narrow flow of water pours out of the wall in the form of a fountain and disappears below the surface again shortly after.
The extraction is in the form of a slender tower that permits the sounds of the river to be heard at the surface level. The addition is in the form of an obelisk that visually depicts the depth of the underground stream and also creates a strong landmark within the garden.
The fifth point is around the fountain in front of the Alfândega do Porto’s parking lot, almost at the intersection between the Rio Frio and Rio d’Ouro.
The intervention is in the form of four lines of extraction and addition of bund walls around the fountain, providing a moment to simply pause and view the monument while also making the water symbolically central to the intervention.
