Collective living increasingly permeates everyone's daily lives. The reduction of meeting places in cities and the lack of outdoor space in houses make it increasingly important that the new building be positioned between the built and the natural. Thus emerges the Galileu, who builds the natural and decomposes the built.
Located in Monte da Caparica, the intervention area is placed in an expectant environment. The surrounding area has a diverse character and multiple forms, being composed of both slender and long-built volumes along the street, as well as punctual and discrete buildings.
Named Galileu, the project is strategically located along Avenida Timor Lorosae, leveraging its connection to Almada's comprehensive public transport network, thereby enhancing urban mobility and access to a variety of local amenities, including educational institutions and sports facilities.
The conceptual foundation of Galileu is the creation of a space that prioritizes community engagement, and optimizes the utilization of inhabited spaces, through the creation of quality public space inside the plot for the surroundings. The proposal for the public space is unpretentious and sensitive to the existing terrain. The topography thus remains virtually untouched.
To mathematize architecture is not to neglect its essence, it is to scale its possibilities. So, unlike the longitudinal volume that was supposed to happen, the project dared to condense the program into two towers, which stems from a rigorous analysis of spatial metrics, aiming to maximize the utility and potential of the site.
Absorbing the sense of community, the outside layer, as the facade, represents a canvas for co-creation, inviting residents to partake in the aesthetic evolution of their living environment. Where there is a sense of identity, there is one community. This participatory approach to façade design encourages individual expression within a collective framework, allowing for the personalization of green spaces and contributing to a vibrant, ever-changing exterior that mirrors the dynamism of the community within.
Each tower is designed around 3 rings, which delineate the transition from public to private spaces, fostering a communal ethos among residents. The innermost ring is dedicated to vertical circulation, serving as the nucleus around which the building's infrastructural components are organized. This configuration effectively blurs the lines between the public and private sectors, ensuring residential privacy while promoting social interaction. The outermost ring is envisioned as a realm of social engagement, offering residents spaces for leisure, interaction, and retreat.
Galileu combines a multitude of green features, from the strategic use of vegetation in outdoor spaces to the implementation of green facades, fostering biodiversity and environmental consciousness. The project's landscape design is anchored in the principles of social, environmental, and economic viability, aiming to mitigate climate impact, enhance ecological connectivity, and promote a culture of communal living and wellness.