Porto want to invest in Campanha because Campanha is located very well near the most important station of Porto. Thereby it’s just 30 min walk to the city centre and the airport is 40 min by car. They already invested in the old slaughterhouse and there are plans for a bus station near the train station. With the millions that the government is…
Porto want to invest in Campanha because Campanha is located very well near the most important station of Porto. Thereby it’s just 30 min walk to the city centre and the airport is 40 min by car. They already invested in the old slaughterhouse and there are plans for a bus station near the train station. With the millions that the government is going to invest, the government want to attract new (start up) industries. That's great sure, but al those projects are standing alone and are not integrated in the already existing neighborhood.
Because if you look into Campanha, you see that the people are poor and that there are a lot of empty houses and stores. In Campanha there are living 1.700 people in the so called Ilha's. The Ilha’s exist from the early 1800, from the industrialization. They were build behind the main house. This main house is standing in a ’normal’ street and behind that house a little ally was created with little houses next to it. In those houses used to lived people who are working for the main house. From the 1950’s the government destroyed a lot of Ilha’s because of the poor living environment. The people were forced to live in unattractive new cheep housing buildings outside the city. Right now the still existing Ilha’s are overwhelmed by Airbnb tourist or get payed of by investors who are building expansive houses. And again the people of the Ilha’s are forced to move outside the city centre.
That's why my question is if Porto could invest in Campanha whereby they attract new industries and on the same hand assure that the residents of Campanha can benefit from it?
I tried to solve that problem by giving the main house of the Ilha back his function but in a new way. The area around and in the main house would be the place where new industries and new people will meet and work with the residents of the Ilha’s.
The building is situated in front of the Ilha, with a gate to the Ilha. By closing it, the name Ilha – Island has still his value even as the feeling of a semi private area. And by doing so, multiple worlds are created. The living area, this is the place of the houses and gardens of the Ilha. It is a private world for the inhabitants of the Ilha’s. The transition zone, This is the gate to the main road and the place between the new building and the old buildings of the Ilha’s. The noises of the city would be more recognizable and the street is visible. The workplace, This is the new building where people go to work and is standing on the place where the old main house was standing. The transfer, This is the main road that gets you from A to B.
In the new building, start ups can rent a space, a desk etc. where they work on their idea and the craftsmanship of the people from the Ilha’s can be used for manufacturing the prototype of the ideas from the start ups. Because there is more work created for lower educated people – the inhabitants of the Ilhas – they can get more easily a job and more money. That money could be spent on upgrading their homes so their live environment improves.
In Campanha are more Ilhas than the one I just pointed out. By restoring the main house of implement a building like this near the Ilha, the inhabitants of those Ilhas can have a more work opportunities. The community gets stronger and new economies are attracted. But while the growth is a little bit slower, it is a more sustainable whereby the residents of Campanha can benefit from it as well.
