Quinta das Conchinhas

In response to the fragility identified in the urban context of the Chelas Urbanization Plan, such as segregation reflecting the degradation of public space, the proposal consists of bringing unity to the public space by proposing 4 parallel and equidistant bars, grouped in pairs, defining two blocks open to the valley. Each pair delimits a cloister, holding a space of enclosure and distribution to the units.

The proposal is developed at two levels and in the transition between them. At the higher level, the space connects intensely with the neighborhood, opening a contact front and resolving traffic congestion with a new road connecting João Paulo II Avenue, Alfredo Duarte Street, and Paulo VI Avenue.

At the lower level, the road character of the Baptista alley currently dominates. Therefore, the proposal widens the sidewalk leading to the indoor parking lot and adds some parking spaces. The alignment of the lodãos controls the scale of this promenade and softens the environment, allowing services and commerce to benefit from this connection.

The housing program is similar in both buildings, mostly confined to the ground floor and the remaining upper floors. Each block is accessed at ground level via a cloister, visually permeable from the outside, for lingering, socializing, and connecting with the rest of the housing program. Inside the cloisters, a humid microforest dominated by alders and supplemented by other native hygrophilous species is established.

The commercial program and services, located alternately on the sides of the blocks, activate the adjacent public space and adjust topographically, between the elevations of floors 0, -1, and -2, to the altimetric characteristics of the proposed new public spaces.

The window is used here as a form of spatial characterization and cultural significance, relating not only to the surroundings but also to Lisbon models of collective housing through the rigorous, systematic design of the facades, counterbalanced by the richness of the opening.