Dimensão humana e arquitectura dos sentidos

: ambientes urbanos acessíveis

Abstract

City is increasingly synonymous with diversity. Given the opportunities they offer and as a result of steady progress in a range of sectors, cities are populated by people with distinct abilities, needs and ambitions which reflect countless ways of thinking, moving, being and living. This way, urban environments should not be designed based on the legendary average man who is always healthy and never mistaken, as if such thing existed for real. It is essential for the city to find balanced and inclusive solutions, aiming to create the vital conditions required to harbor all the diversity. Following this line of thought, the accessibility in urban environments has gained prominence over the past few years. However, more acknowledge of its relevance is crucial. From public spaces to housing, accessibility should therefore be present all over the spatial extent of the city, building a coherent and fortified unit as a whole which would otherwise be weaker. In order to keep up with all this dynamism, the city has to be open to change, actively fostering the needs of the population and thus accomplishing a human dimension. Despite architectural buildings are materialized in measurable lengths, they often transcend physical dimension. To triumph, the city must respond to the not only physical but also social, cultural and psychological dimension of its population. Subsequently, all its elements should be organized harmoniously, becoming appealing and able to awaken our senses. Against this scenario, an architecture project willing to blend these parameters in order to achieve a humanized and realistic solution was conceived.

Date of Award	16 Dec 2013
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	António da Silva Ferreira de Carvalho (Supervisor) & Gonçalo Nuno Pinheiro de Sousa Byrne (Co-Supervisor)