CHARNECA’S URBAN REQUALIFICATION PROJECT

The Peryferic Urban Nucleus and The New Expantion Areas

EXTENDED ABSTRACT Diogo Carlos Henriques Pires May 2012 INTRODUCTION

This project report as the purpose of reasoning and reflection on the urban project designed in the exercise of the Final Project class, in the 5th year of the Integrated Masters in Architecture from Instituto Superior Técnico. It was labored in academic year 2010/2011 and divided in two parts, one on each semester.

The exercise focuses on the northern periphery of , specifically on and its nearby surrounding. This is an area disconnected from the consolidated city and on the back of Lisbon Airport. It is characterized by a fragmented urban fabric and lacking of a stronger social and economic context. The still running Alto do Lumiar Urban Plan provides a radical transformation of Charneca, but it is currently struggling for progression. This factor is an opportunity to restructure the plan in terms of historical nucleus integration of Charneca in the consolidated city and urban continuity to Camarate.

Based on the real and current context of Lisbon, the object of study is discussed under the Historical Nucleus and New Urban Expansion theme. It seeks to establish which the main concerns are and how the expansion of the city should address areas with this type of pre-existing. This analysis was supported by a synthetic study of Avenidas Novas and Benfica focused on how pre-existing conditioned these 20th century urban expansions.

THE PERYFERIC URBAN NUCLEUS AND THE NEW EXPANTION AREAS

There is a natural tendency for cities to grow. Normally this process may result on some internal area mutation, or in its limits expansion, or even on a combination of these two. This is a process that might be planed or spontaneous. “Per urban expansion means any territorial transformation that has the purpose or effect of total urbanized land area increasing or urban perimeter expansion.” 1

These transformed areas have some times the presence of historical nucleus. This is a concept similar to «historical centers», where the only difference might be on the weight that the word «center» has to refer to a specific place of a whole. It is difficult to have a common definition for all ’s historical centers, so it a case by case classification. Never the less, it would not be laudable that such concepts became static to the point they get autonomous and disconnected from urban context.

The territorial pre-existing can lead to future occupations success. The historical nucleuses have the ability to accelerate the consolidation process. These are territory settled places that already make part of population’s «mind maps» (Kevin Lynch concept discussed in Image of The City, 1960). As so, they easy the way of new urban interventions assimilation that takes place inside or nearby them.

1 - Diário da República, 1.ª série - N.º 104 - 29 de Maio de 2009, Conceitos técnicos do ordenamento do território e urbanismo a utilizar nos instrumentos de gestão territorial - Quadro nº2, Ficha nº30. pp. 3373.

IST arquitectura DIOGO PIRES I Then, an urban expansion operation may and shall take advantage of the historical nucleus presence, conserving its values and urban contribution that work as forwardness base. They create constraints but also opportunities. Despite that, not all ancient areas have the same aptitude to anchor an urban transformation. That choice must be made by an historical value evaluation and it is a decision always molded by socio-cultural context and victim of politic and economic interests.

INTERVENTION AREA CHARACTERIZATION

The Project Intervention Area (PIA) territory is located between the Lisbon Airport and the Eixo Norte-Sul road, respectively to East and West. It is in a small peak to plain transition, from West to East, with elevations that varies from 110m to 150m. There are only small foci of high slopes in the Northwest and Southwest boundaries, and the slippage risk is not present.

The green areas classification was based not only on the Municipality Master Plan (Plano Director Municipal, PDM) but also on site direct observation, in order to better suit this work goals. So they were classified in four categories: recreation, residual, production and expectant.

The solar exposure is mainly east and south. This provides a good potential for agricultural production and also urban expansion. The PIA is in a high level of seismic vulnerability area with traces of very high level on its surroundings. The flood risk is high only in small spot to the South, near the hydro structure that involves this zone, and the rest of the area has no risk at all.

Charneca’s ancient nucleus has suffered several transformations over time, mainly by increase of buildings. Analyzing maps, military maps and aerial views it’s possible to verify that both building and road networks are systems changed by addition. This was not made by an urban plan but by filling the empty spaces left by previews interventions. It was in response to local needs and population, which in the 60’s and 70’s increased exponentially. With the Lisbon Airport construction in 1940 decade, many of Charneca’s links to the city center were removed and even more after Airport expansion. This equipment has become a huge obstacle, hard to get around, that emphasized the city and its periphery segregation.

The PIA main road network is composed by: Eixo Norte-Sul, from Structural Network; by the unfinished Eixo Central, from Main Distribution Network; by the road segment made by Bombeiros Voluntários de Camarate Str. / Cidade de Lisboa Str. / old Santos e Castro Avenue, which works as path-through way, and the segment Estrada Militar / Dr. Manuel Rodrigues Júnior Str. / Campo das Amoreiras / Estrada do Poço de Baixo, which links Charneca to surrounding localities, both segments from Secondary Distribution Network; and finally by a Local Access Network where are notorious many mobility weaknesses, like exceeding dead end streets. This site has lack of mobility quality because this network has numerous dead ends roads and poor access to adjacent areas.

IST arquitectura DIOGO PIRES II Generally, PIA existing buildings are in a reasonable to bad state of repair, where many of them are from illegal genesis. Housing is mostly composed by small dimension single-family dwellings with two storeys high. There are also some spots of collective housing, which some were for inhabitants relocation. Some large warehouses are also present at PIA, on the logistic and automotive industry. They somehow condition the local image. Public space is generally somewhat deteriorated, summing up to small sized channel spaces, excluding Campo das Amoreiras and São Sebastião Church surrounding.

PIA is ruled by Lisbon and Municipal Master Plan (PDM). Two main areas stand out: Urban Residential Structuring Area, which corresponds to Alto do Lumiar Urban Plan, and the Green Area Protection along all the East side next to Lisbon Airport. It also reveals a reasonable presence of Areas to Consolidate and Benefit, Areas to Recover or Legalize and the presence of a Historic Nucleus of Interest, which corresponds to Charneca’s nucleus, along with some Municipal Patrimony and Protection Zone of Properties.

Alto do Lumiar Urban Plan affects almost half of the Project Intervention Area. It was labored in 1993 and approved in 1996, and it comes to create a new centrality in Lisbon city. It’s a radical proposal to transform this area through a new urban nucleus construction endowed with all valences of a town and which promotes urban expansion and continuity northward. The choice to include such area in the PIA concerns to the fact that its relation with the historical nucleus is not consolidated and it seems to underestimate the environment of this nucleus.

The detailed characterization of the intervention area on the physical, historical, morphological, mobility and conditioning levels was the basis for the realization of an informed and conscious intervention proposal.

PROJECT CHARACTERIZATION

The intervention is composed by three main key points: Charneca’s and Camarate’s road system consolidation and among them and the surrounding areas; trade and economic system consolidation; and Alto do Lumiar Urban Plan restructuring near Charneca’s historical nucleus. It also concerns with other points of high interest: macro ecological structure continuity; public space continuity through of Natural rich spaces; succession of qualified public spaces; requalification of the housing stock.

As concretization of Charneca’s and Camarate’s road system consolidation it’s proposed the restructuring and construction of three major roads. The Trade Road, Crossing Road and Circular Road reorder the road system and create a new mobility dynamic. The Trade Road results of a Cidade de Lisboa Street adjustment to respond to a high use of people, since the trading is concentrated here. The Crossing Road has the purpose to absorb the traffic that simply passes through this area, making a faster bypass from north to south and serving the logistic areas traffic. Finally, the Circular Road gives this area a better connection among it and its surroundings. By this road all the local urbanizations get linked in a circular way, promoting their relation.

IST arquitectura DIOGO PIRES III The trade and economic system consolidation results not only in the Trade Road construction as well as in the definition of an Economic Activities Center that has range across the city. By being next to Santos e Castro Avenue and Eixo Norte-Sul it takes advantage of its location to be an easy site access and closer to the rest of the city.

As way of Alto do Lumiar Urban Plan restructuring and continuity, the buildings system is governed by a mesh very similar to this Plan. The mesh rule is sometimes broken and adjusted in order to link up with the existing building, mainly with the Charneca’s historical nucleus, giving it the owing environment. This way the urban continuity gets stronger and conditions are created for the emergence of diverse nature unexpected spaces.

It’s further defined a green space network to consolidate and strengthen the city ecological structure. It continues the defined green corridors and areas and it’s characterized by gardens and parks that care for the low breach of continuity among them. It is possible to define pathways inside the urban fabric that are always made by spaces with natural features.

CONCLUSION

Throughout the preparation of the proposed intervention and this report, it is perceived the importance of time factor. Due to its long duration and nature, the project often suffers the changing its bases or some of its assumptions. It is necessary to know how to deal with uncertainty and provide the project characteristics that allow it to easily adapt to new requirements, in the short and long term.

The theoretical reflections on historic nucleus, urban expansion and making city, as well as the analysis of Benfica and Avenidas Novas specific cases, have consolidated own knowledge and awareness of the facts inherent to assignment location. This is undoubtedly important tools to use during the elaboration of a project.

The deepening knowledge about the location through the various analyzes developed was essential to inform the project. Thus prevented it did not incur in merely capricious or maladjusted solutions to reality. The methodology and scope of the study were sufficient to support the assumptions taken and make a proposal justified and targeted.

IST arquitectura DIOGO PIRES IV