The work on display has developed in response to a brief which calls for a new place of exchange along the bank of the River Douro, in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.
An investigation into the architecture of Alvaro Siza Vieira has served as the basis from which a response to the site has developed, with his methodology being interrogated through three inter-related themes: the route, the transition, and the room. The investigation into this praxis has thoroughly influenced the proposal, where response and expression are borne from study, not only of Siza’s work but also the study of site and wider Portugal.
Throughout the course of the year, a variety of mediums have also been explored, and have encouraged intuitive design, especially those not normally associated with contemporary design processes, such as painting or casting. However, it is these mediums that, in combination with the Siza study, have forced a re-thinking of how contemporary architecture can be conceived.
The proposal itself has developed from research into the locality and a piece of recent government legislation which allows local people to rent and cultivate neglected lands. This is an incentive that has been widely adopted by pooper people, as a means of producing cheap, healthy food, or supplementing income through its sale. Considering these recent developments, the thesis of this project revolves around “cultivation” and aims to explore architecture as a means of bringing together urban gardening from the local area to a new place of social and economic commerce. Therefore, several market and allotment spaces have been developed to facilitate a rich market culture synonymous with Portugal.
A second key element to the proposal is the introduction of a new restaurant building, replacing the existing structures of little architectural merit, with a piece of architecture that places itself thoroughly amongst the Portuguese vernacular.
Fundamentally, the project not only seeks to respond to its context, but furthermore become part of it, as a new piece of city; a focal point with ambitions of positively impacting the lives of the local people who will occupy it for centuries to come.