2. 2
The city of PORTO
Porto is the main hub city in northern Portu-
gal. Its historic centre has been designated
as a Unesco World Heritage Site because
of its significant architecture and history.
The landscape of Porto is characterised by
the wild slopes and the Douro river. Rows
of shallow steps and streets in slopes con-
nect the parts of the city built on different
height levels.
The city of Porto has always had a strong
connection with the water, since Douro has
been the center of economic activities and
especially for the exports of the Port wine .
The site is located in the historical district
of Ribeira. Ribeira is spread alongside the
river and is the area where many touristic
attractions and activities are located.
In continuity with the coastline, beside the
Luis I Bridge, where the touristic zone fades
down and the lower housing density ap-
pears, in the view of the old wineries build-
ings, there is the site for the new project.
The site in the context of the city of Porto
3. 3
The site
The border
The wall project
The line at the edge of the river forms an
unfiendly zone for the users. Because of
the height difference, almost 12m, between
the street and the river top level, the water
is difficult part to be accessed, to be ap-
proached, to be experienced. The lack of
connections makes the two elements, the
water and the land to be conceived each
of them, as bounded, as a remote territory.
In order to enhance the importance of the re-
lation between the two parts,the water and
the land, a 360m long part of the border is
offset in the river, creating a new “wall” and
connecting it back to the coastline with four
bridges. In that way, a in-between zone of
water is defined, and this is where the new
swimming pools with constant and fluctuat-
ing water are located.
The wall as program
The wall accommodates program.
The project sets up a sequence of spaces
that create different experiences to drag
people -tourists and residents of the city-
out of their daily life or better to make the
new public space part of their daily life.
The project is an attempt to trigger people
to re-examine the border and their rela-
tion with the coastline in general. To trigger
them to cross the line,to walk the bridges
and experience the new territory.
To stimulate the passer-by to come closer,
to swim, to spend time participating in the
diverse activities offered by the space, or
just to have a view of the city from the new
observatory.
The goal is by incorporating program to
turn the zone into a lively, full of activity and
excitement space, an attraction area for
everybody no matter the time or the sea-
son.
4. 4
The wall as a “border”
Our design forms a dynamic horizontal ges-
ture, a wall.
A wall that works as a symbol, not as a
boundary (Greek “peras”) where things
stop, but as the Greeks recognized, it can
be a line where something begins its pres-
encing ”1
.
The wall not as a single line or a border, but
as an area.
A wall that defines a potential space, a
place of suggestions, where things predict-
able and unpredictable, can happen.
The wall as an in-between space, that rede-
fines the relation of the city and Douro river.
It is a wall that accommodates a set of pub-
lic activities.
A wall that functions as an extended route
both horizontally and vertically.
A wall that finally aims to reorganise this
section of the riverfront.
The wall as a new monument
The new wall has a noticeable size that
makes it easy to be seen. It functions as
an image to remember.Finally, as a monu-
ment that makes people to perceive the im-
portance of that coastal zone in an urban
scale, in the scale of the city of Porto.
1
Neil Leach(ed), Building, Dwelling, Thinking in
Rethinking Architecture, Routledge, 1997, p. 105
Offset the border
Connecting the wall
6. 6
The elements
Promenade
At the street level, by expanding the
pedestrian zone by 5m, a new prom-
enade is introduced. By installing a
series of metal poles that function as
urban lighting furniture or as struc-
tural elements for building temporal
kiosks, the idea of an urban “agora”
is highlighted. Aligned to this agora,
a jogging path and a cycle path are
defined.
The promenade is where the user
starts his/her way to enter the building
via bridges.
Ramps
The program, is accommodated as
short or longer stops on the route. In
order to reach the sun deck from the
swimming pools level, a series of gen-
tly sloped ramps are used. This offers
to the passer-by (physical challenged
people or not) a smooth transition to
the spaces in diverse levels.
The construction
The bridges function as beams (truss-
es) supporting the new structure on
the existing wall. Parallel to those, a
series of more six beams are added
and give the possibility for future ex-
tension of the structure.
Multifunction spaces
A multifunction open air auditorium is
suspended from the bridges. It accom-
modates temporal cultural events, film
projections or recreational activities.
The diverse restaurant-cafe zone can
be rearrange according to the needs.
The neutral concrete walls can act as
interactive facades for projections.
Circulation diagram
Program diagram
