Ponte Verde

Competition 2nd Prize - Urban plan - Lisbon - 2017

History
The story of this place begins with the Palace of Queluz. The Palace is the genesis of a territory that since the 1980's has seen dramatic changes precipitated by a relentless urban and infrastructural development. The IC19 freeway accomplished its role of territorial connection at the expenses of the local scale. Not only did it break the physical relations between spaces but it also broke the cultural and social connections between the people who inhabit this place.
The proposal intends, not only to stitch together the divided territory but also to provide these connections with a social and cultural program. An integrated network of green areas and public infrastructures dedicated to pedestrians is implemented around the Palace repositioning the latter at the centre of this territory.

 

The Green Bridge
The green bridge is a crucial node in this new network of public spaces as it aims to reconnect the Palace with the Matinha de Queluz, a walled green area that was once part of the Palace complex but is nowadays alienated from the tourist and leisure routes due to the obstacle of the freeway.
The circular shape of the new bridge is the result of the intersection between the baroque geometry of the palace gardens with the routine movements that everyday cross this place. The local inhabitants, when going about their daily routines, see themselves unexpectedly immersed in this circular garden that extends the green of the Palace towards the other side of the freeway to the Matinha. The bridge resembles the circular squares characteristic of Baroque gardens: a moment of pause and meeting, where the visitor orients himself and chooses the next path to follow. The circular bridge is also a belvedere over the Palace and its surrounding areas offering the inhabitants of this place an understanding of the historical and social meaning of the territory they inhabit.

 

Team:
Architecture: João Fagulha, Raquel Oliveira.
Landscape Architecture: Oficina dos Jardins - Sónia Caldeira, Inês Ferrão.
Structural Engineer: PRPC Engenheiros - João Paulo Cardoso.
Client:
Parques de Sintra - Monte da Lua, Câmara Municipal de Sintra