URBAN REQUALIFICATION OF CARNIDE The urban continuity in a contrasting territory Catarina Albuquerque Durão Barroso EXTENDED ABSTRACT OCTOBER 2012 0 INTRODUCTION This document intends to summarize the Report of the Final Project for the Master Degree in Architecture, developed in the academic year of 2011/2012. The exercise aimed the investigation of new intervention strategies for the Northwest Area of Lisbon. 1 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CONTEMPORARY CITY The continuous change in lifestyles and comfort patterns has been responsible for a growing heterogeneity and, at the same time, individualization of the social behaviours and demands. It is in this direction that our cities have been developing, on their quest for keeping up with the on-going changes in the society, where the individual plays the leading role. Therefore, the new urban solutions are marked with greater diversity and try to reach the necessities of each individual above those of the society or culture in which they live. This is clear when we look at the growing scattering of the urban structures. These structures, which include new urban icons and activities, are beginning to accentuate the role of peripheral areas relatively to the already congested centre. These, besides having physical space available and being close to the consolidated city, have good accessibility, which favours the development of peripheral agglomerations engaging in urban activity and new reference points with potential for becoming new urban centralities in a polycentric urban context. These urban centralities do not look for autonomy relatively to their surroundings, but rather to be part of the logic of continuity with the rest of the city and the other agglomerations included in it. So that they may function and undertake their role, they must be associated with a particular identity assured by many factors which create the urban experience: pedestrian and road mobility, diversification of functions, presence of iconographic elements, continuous public space structure integrated in the city’s ecologic system. However, the ever more evident reality of the Northwest of Lisbon is not in accordance with this description, since the peripheral agglomerates have been creating areas of tension and discontinuity in the territory due to its unplanned development, which reflects upon the growing individualism of these agglomerates, thus generating a fragmentary territory. Therefore, it is intended to understand these processes of development and growing of the territory in autonomous nuclei and to find a restructuration strategy that embraces urban continuity. Our quest for it must not rely on a global solution or on the homogeneous drawing of a single branch of the city, but rather be made clear in structuring axes that cross different urban realities and that are capable of fine- drawing by establishing sequential relations or chains between the different parts. “Moverse y caminar continuamente, esto es pertenecer a la ciudad” (Solá-Morales, 1994: 175). To move and to walk continuously, this is belonging to the city. 2 ANALISYS The analysis of the territory is made by distinguishing a Study Area, in which is tried to identify the main features and relevant situations as far as discontinuities and evolution of the territory in independent and different nuclei are concerned; and a Intervention Area, Carnide, which will be the object of a more detailed inquiry, providing the necessary means to the development of the Urban Project. 2.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA The development of the urban fabric northward has begun in 1879, when “Avenida da Liberdade” replaced the “Public Promenade”. Since then, several Urban Plans concerning the northern area of the city appeared, namely the one by Ressano Garcia in 1874-1909 and the one by Etienne de Gröer in 1948, introducing axes and circulars that defined the main expansion directions. Since it is a territory that until the second half of the XXth century was no more than small historic agglomerates and rural properties, which, on the one hand, is connected with the centre of the city through old roads, on the other, has witnessed an enormous growth – caused by the real estate speculation of the 60’s – in a short period of time and without any kind of planning, it was deemed necessary to analyse its evolution as far as these several agglomerates, the nuclei, are concerned. Therefore, it was undertaken a more careful study of the nuclei which were considered important for the characterization of the different situations that shape the territory. The nuclei of Benfica, Alfornelos, Pontinha, Carnide, S. Domingos de Benfica, Telheiras, Lumiar and Paço do Lumiar are, thus, analysed paying special attention to the kind of limits they have, their historic evolution, their morphology and the existing typologies. Hence, whatever the inner reality of the nuclei is and the quantity of urban activities in it may be, the subject of the discontinuities in the urban fabric is present in all the case studies, even if in different ways: big roads, in the expecting or unoccupied voids, pronounced hills, places of limited use – all these situations contribute to the break of continuity between the nuclei. This study also aims at the identification of those discontinuities effects in the environments of the nuclei and in the way in which they are, if at all, surpassed, trying, thus, to understand how they add to the fragmentation of the whole territory or to the creation of urbanity in it. The potential seen in the diversity of public equipment and services, habitation typologies and affluence of population to the Study Area, summed to the imposed presence of road infrastructures, their lack of hierarchy and the leading role they have been playing, contrasts to the weakness of pedestrian and public space system, accentuating the need for intervening in this territory, so that everything in it may contribute to its transformation and to the creation of new urban centralities. 2.2 DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERVENTION AREA Aiming at a greater acquaintance with the Intervention Area, a biophysical analysis focused on a few points considered relevant to the Urban Project is made. According to the classification of the natural systems of the urban landscape, Carnide integrates the “Para-planáltico Interior” system, which indicates low relief and a relatively spread urban occupation. The majority of the soil is clay-limestone sourced, which accounts for the low values of earthquake risk. As far as solar exposition is concerned, the south wing/quadrant is the one that stands out, being also of remark the west oriented region. With its favourable climate and its fertile soils, this area has occupied, through the course of history, a fundamental role in supplying Lisbon. The first systematic settlement dates back to the XIVth century, along “Estrada da Pontinha”, which became the main development axis. Gradually, in the historical nucleus of Carnide, two distinct places were developed: the “village of Carnide”, mainly for dwelling, organized in parallel streets around the main street (nowadays called “Rua Neves da Costa”); and the “place of Luz”, more monumental, organized around Largo da Luz, where popular festivals used to take place and which contained the most important monuments of the region. In their surroundings, were located several farms and convents which also contributed to the characterization of this nucleus and the shaping of its historic heritage. The Intervention Area assumes a central position in the Study Area, not only due to its location, but also regarding the range of urban elements that it contains. However, the coexistence of contrasting situations - the historic nucleus and its farms, the Technological Campus, the individualized residential neighbourhoods, PMO, Pontinha bus terminal and metro station, the Military School, the C.C. Colombo mall, “Estádio da Luz” and the road infrastructure - in an unstructured fabric has been avoiding the creation of urban continuity in it. 3 STRATEGY The development of the Urban Design occurred in two phases, which are associated to different scales of work. At a first stage, in groups, the Project dealt with the scale of the city seeking to resolve the issues raised based on the analysis and the interpretation of the urban situations. Then, individually, the work was proceeded in a closer scale, in Carnide. 3.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE GENERAL STRATAGY This focused mainly on the work of urban discontinuities in the territory, identified during the analysis process, which helped to define the assumptions that led to the initial concept. Then, the development of the overall strategy followed the following steps: 1. Identification of the major arteries in the territory. Awareness of the coexistence of axes with different times and features. 2. Identification of tension areas along the identified axes. Creation of an urban network that follows these axes and involves the main areas to treat. 3. Definition of the surrounding area, which includes several urban situations, understood as means for the transformation of the territory. Masterplan site. Therefore, it is proposed a system of continuity based on a public spaces network linked by pedestrian corridors. This network merges naturally with the road system, which structure has been hierarchally rethought so that, its functionality is ensured meanwhile preventing its dissociation from the other functions from an urbanized city scenario. “Av. Lusíada”, due to its location and transversality to several activities and urban areas appears as the main axis, unifying the different proposed spaces. As it is aimed to transform it in a more urban axis, its section has to be changed, once it currently relates more to a highway axis than to one in the middle of the city, surrounded by several urban activities. The proposed section, with larger sidewalks and less traffic lanes, combines the functions of cars and pedestrians thus enabling continuity relations from the Classical University Campus to Pontinha in the east-west direction and, supported on the ecological structure of the city, from Monsanto to Paço do Lumiar in the south- north direction.