PROJECT TAGUS PLATFORM a Port-City concept for XXI century

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1 PROJECT TAGUS PLATFORM a Port-City concept for XXI century Pedro Ressano Garcia, Universidade Lusófona-TERCUD The project Tagus Platform - Plataforma Tejo presents a new connection between the city of Lisbon, and the port. The project reshapes the morphology of the surface of the landfill built over the river with a new building. Among port cities involved in waterfront redevelopment, many find difficulties in establishing access from the urban environment to the port area in particular when located next to ancient city centres. The city of Lisbon, capital of Portugal, registers several successful initiatives, but the existence of the 3km barrier of railway and heavy traffic avenue prevents the city centre to access the riverfront and creates a cut off effect. The building is covered with public space in a way that overpasses railway and road. The need to pass above trains and integrate the traffic changes the ground level of the city to another level. The building merges disciplines that are often presented separately. Architecture and public space mix the ground level. Offers the opportunity to do several activities. The connection is made through the extension of the garden Jardim 9 de Abril located at the upper level of the city till the lower level of the riverfront. It is a new public space for the city. Facing south and offering panoramic views of the estuary. It s a good place for contemplation but also for big cultural events.

2 The building is accessible at two levels, at the landfill (port) and the hill (city) it works like an entrance to the city for those arriving from the river and make the connection between the local museums. Above, the public space with a gentle slope allow local people to meet the river. Inside, the building is occupied by services, commerce, and exhibition rooms placed along passages between the largest museum of the country Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, the headquarters of the Red Cross, the cruise terminal, the murals by Almada Negreiros and his collection. Large parking areas are accessible from both levels and allow automobiles to go in and out for the port area and the city. The project stands for mainly three reasons: Barrier/ Meeting Point/ Access. The barrier effect is deluded by the difference of level of these different flows of urban mobility. The extension of public space, at the river, bring people to gather at the site creating a meeting point. Access between the consolidated urban fabric and the surface of the port allow the city to re-establish the relation with the water. In 1994 when the first marina was regenerated for bars and restaurants, the citizens of Lisbon experienced its closeness with the river, this was reinforced later by Expo 98 urban project. The two first urban approaches towards the river, despite its great success amongst Lisbon inhabitants and visitors, didn t achieve any further consequence within the rest of the city. Waterfront redevelopment did not promote urban integration but contributed instead for a further segregation within the city, standing behind the barrier. Mixed uses related to water activities and to urban facilities settled in the area are to gather. New opportunities occur attracting the attention from

3 scholars, investors and citizens. It s undeniable that the regeneration and beautification of port areas attract increasing interest about the riverfront. Here, the port area physically meets the heart of the city and it has been occupied for some decades with warehouses and port facilities, that today constitutes a central space where programs and ideas turns easily into contemporary icons. It s one in a life time opportunity to offer the ancient city better conditions, suppress its needs as well its own facilities, bringing new value to public spaces and updating solutions continuously delayed. The project stands on grounds that belong to several landlords. Several Port Cities are seeking new models to overcome difficulties and achieve agreement between institutions. According to several authors waterfront public spaces have an impact, positive or negative, that result from a particular process and/or urban policies. The success of this project depends on the integration and articulation of governmental Traffic Office, Municipality, Port Authority and the Railway Co. The well known Barcelona Model witch had became a reference to several other cities in the world, was particularly happy and well done, namely the interconnections between the old port and the historic core. Nevertheless, drawings cannot repeat themselves i.e. the model by it self cannot simply be copied, without having first created all necessary conditions to do it. Therefore it must be based on a set of circumstances that value the public space investment, mobility and social mixture. One can than easily understand and also see it from projects already copied, that circumstances are never the same. Circumstances don t repeat themselves ad infinitum nor in time, nor in space and therefore each Port City has its own opportunities turned virtually possible by its own conjunction. Getting back into the original concept, it s a trio what is being questioned: Tejo delta, the ancient consolidated city nearby the river and Lisbon Port. We are all implied. It is true that in the last decades many port cities have been changing, that port authorities are opened to new ideas and alternative uses, but who is

4 designing this desire of transformation. Thinking riverfront had been evoked by several authors, the media, common citizens and politicians who discuss the train traffic line and the intensive traffic road and consequently the barrier effect existing between city and river. We believe and propose another perspective of the present problem, one that does not demand any governmental effort to redesign these infrastructures; instead, we accept present situation as it is. Not even Docklands and Expo 98 interventions worked to eliminate this barrier set up between port and city, despite it still is the fundamental issue for this central area of the city nearby Santos land built and part of Alcântara s. However, other causes should be taken into account, such as passenger s cruises, growing every year, the fact that the largest Portuguese Museum continuously registered a reduce number of visitors when compared with the number of tourists, visiting other museums. Future Museum of the Far East Oriente Museum will also be crammed between train railway and port building. The surface of the port is made of platforms built over the river, it has recently revealed its natural vocation when receiving festivals and cultural events, such as life music, cinema or broadcasted shows on big screen TV s. The project is giving priority to the already existing facilities on the site: the Portuguese Red Cross headquarters, the National Museum of Ancient Art, the garden Jardim 9 de Abril, Port of Lisbon, the cruise terminal and the Far East Museum. It proposes to articulate these facilities and institutions in a wag that site revitalisation can be achieved as a whole. We do understand that empty space drawings is requested to city creation and that urban drawing must be perceived in a three-dimensional base, rather than just bidimensional (as usually is thought).

5 The last International City and Ports great conference (IACP), held in Lisbon some months from now, had came to clarify to all institution Port & City leaders, even to the more sceptical ones, that effort s collaboration and articulation turns possible fabulous results, no matter imposed difficulties by on going local legislation. The riverfront regeneration is waiting for some common projects dialog where all comes to win. The leadings solution points out the goal of reestablishing the river connection to the city throughout port zone. Tejo River and city have not always been detached. As so, in 1929, Fernando Pessoa wrote in it s Lisbon Tourist Guide how ships arrived. The description goes on, but one cannot know why Fernando Pessoa had never made any kind of reference about Lisbon Industrial Port, even that one knows that land built were already finished and working properly by that time. There were goads, workers and machines. The newest lands built were filled with cranes and loads, warehouses and occupied people staff by the international trade, which conquered Lisbon Industrial Port flows. The author doesn t mention anything about this world ignoring it completely as it didn t exist or didn t go further than a minor accident that could not interfere in the connection between city and river. Excluding a Port environment existence can have a pragmatic reason in this tourist information context: i.e., as one knows, by industrial means mechanical, dirty, noisy and consequently not much attractive. Fernando Pessoa erases industrial port just because it isn t urban space, but some mechanism working instead. Nowadays, the author would probably not avoid compliments regarding its leisure spaces well taken care of which attracts millions of visitors. Nevertheless, in its description about city-life as well as in its urban environment shown up to the visitor. The author is quite meticulous about relationships between buildings and urban spaces set up along the coastline and activities and services that took place over there. Pessoa enhances city s sea activity deep reminiscence, an immutable memory when compared to port lands built the city attachment with the river along several offspring.

6 Urban space is in the first place the other people s space. A place where differences meet together and, sometimes even overlap, where diversity richness spreads out in clusters. This place is destined to embrace several age groups: for kids playing ball, for teenagers riding bicycles, for adults relaxing, for older people chatting, solitary, lovers, families, for groups; it s a place were kisses are exchanged on garden benches, where babies are walked in their baby s car, where an infinite other things takes place and happens. In this everybody s space there re distant cultures as well closer ones that work as bridges between all of them. From precious success experiences one can conclude that the challenge is in the identity and modernity driven by imagination. Good solutions are creative, not just about organization models of implied institutions - Cityhall, Port Administration, Urban Transport s enterprise, amongst others but also about urban drawing and architecture and also but not least, about proposed programs. Conceptually, guidelines and main goal are drawn submitting the project visually up to deciders as we believe that site specific solution encourages effort s union to set programs and partnerships who can then make the project turn possible. On going conjunction, city and port must obey to a set of hierarchy decisions: first, to a strategic plan; than to all different municipality scales from detailed plans, to urban planning and later to an architectural project. Nevertheless, one can observe from different Port Cities that the most success examples comes from the Architectural project which then implies urban drawing and territory transformation instead. This dynamics works like an inverted pyramid, i.e., actors efforts are coordinated and combined so this visionary and dreamy project dimension can be turned possible, increasing value to urban life, to port, to city s image, to tourism and mainly, to people who uses, accesses and enjoys new facilities.

7 Image 01- Evolution of Port City territory. Image 02- Extension of the garden Jardim 9 de Abril Image 03-Photomontage of Tagus Platform from the waterfront promenade.

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