Street vs Road - Europan 10

The intervention area is characterized predominantly by large public spaces and important collective buildings such as universities, the Julio de Matos H hair salons ospital, the Campo Grande Garden and the S. Vicente de Paulo Complex.

Bounded on the west side by the rear of existing buildings and on the east side by the Julio de Matos Hospital fence, the area presents itself as a strip of land with well-defined direction between the Campo Grande Garden and the 2nd Circular ring road. The new Avenue follows its course. The urban solution proposed consists in a regular structure determined by two axis relating with the two existing and important collective buildings, the S. Vicente de Paulo complex and the Cultural Center of Campo Grande. The system of streets and blocks are defined by this rule emphasizing the new Avenue which is diagonally to this system.

The new Avenue, a street with approximately 40 meters of width, varies along its longitudinal way. The height of the buildings gradually decreases until it reaches the S. Vicente de Paulo emphasizing the perspective of the Avenue which follows the topography of the place. Near the complex we propose a belvedere garden, which extends visibly on the whole urban system proposed through the roof gardens of the blocks.

The Avenue is composed by a central public space with "Grand Magasines" in the subsoil alternated with kiosks, green areas, playgrounds and seating areas. The project includes also two public squares at its ends. The squares, together with the buildings and public spaces described above, form the “primary collective uses”. These uses will influence the “derived collective uses” performed by innumerable individual projects (coffee shops, pharmacies, galleries, bakeries, banks, bookshops, stationers, hair salons, shoe shops, copy shops, gyms, grocery stores, post office, fruit shops, bars, restaurants, etc, etc, etc). The vitality of the streets depends on them.