Working on a layered landscape. A project for the "Escarpa dos Guindais" in Porto
Master Degree program in Architecture/Thesis in Landscape Architecture
University of Florence
The intervention area of Escarpa dos Guindais, is set in Porto, Portugal in a central area next to Ponte Luis I.
The reading, interpretation e designing have been devoloped on the central theme of the layered landscape.
A landscape may be seen from its morphology and in relation with its urban setting complexity, here characterized by steep scarps and sheer slopes leading on the river Douro.
The layering acquires the shapes of the history, showing the overlapping of different urban webs and different open spaces corresponding to the different historical ages.
The slope, place of biodiversity, represents today an extremely important urban residual to be exploited.
The strategy is that of creating a connection between the historical centre and the eastern area to the Gothic Walls within the focus area, by networking different urban open spaces without continuity solution.
So the slope will not only have a vertical and horizontal connecting function, but it will also be a place to be lived by the community for different purposes.
A portion of the area is left to its original aspect aiming to link the wild landscape with the designed one in a new synergy.
Otherwise, the accessible part has been thought according to a system of fan-like terraces and open spaces designing, connected with sloping ramps and staircases.
These spaces are treated in different ways ( different vegetation and materials but also different uses) in order to make a narrative path.