Date: 2000/2008

Location: Viseu, Portugal

Area: 1.027.000 sqm

Client: Viseu Polis, SA

Project Coordinators:
João Ferreira Nunes, Carlos Ribas

Project Collaborators:
Iñaki Zoilo, Joana Barreto, Cristina Vasconcelos, Andrea Alonso

Architecture:
Gonçalo Byrne

Speciality:
BETAR, Estudos e Projectos de Estabilidade
Grade Ribeiro, Estudos, Projectos e Consultoria
JOULE, Projectos, Estudos e Coordenação
Sojefer, Projectos e Construcções

Photography:
Diogo Bento

The present intervention is a continuity of the actions foreseen by POLIS Program, focuses in a territory with very different typological configurations and can be divided into three main areas: the slope area (Cava do Viriato Monument), the urban radial park of Santiago, and the market park. The main objective of the proposal is the promotion of the integrity and formal lecture of the monument and the development of rules for its direct utilization. Two realities with different natures meet in this space: the installation of the weekly market  and the definition of an Urban Park along river Pavia, that promotes the continuity of a leisure route and a route for pedestrians and bicycles along the river, extending and relating the town with the housing of the urban fringe and the rural area.  The proposition for the definition of the park is the result of a conceptual guideline based upon a several of main aspects;  the definition of a matrix territory, around the monument; the creation of a hydrological basin, to retain and store floodable ground, in this particular area, where two water lines meet in an urban space; the creation of a space with urban characteristics in a transition zone with clear agricultural marks.