Project outline Toon

Project outline

Topic:

Minhocão

Thesis:

Are there ways to connect the Minhocão highway with surrounding (semi-)public spaces?

Abstract:

The Minhocão highway was opened in 1971 to find a solution for the dense traffic in São Paulo. The highway links Praça Roosevelt with Largo Padre Pericles through Barro Funda. It has been built with little regard for the surrounding spaces. Planners built the highway right over an existing road.

Today it is quite densely used during rush hours. In the surrounding area there are different kinds of use, both formal and informal. Between 21.30 and 6.30 the highway is closed, for to prevent noise and the high risk of accidents. On Sundays the highway is closed for motorized traffic and becomes a recreational space. Pedestrians and bicyclists are free to use the space. Being one of few large public spaces it is used quite often, but the space lacks sufficient facilities and is hard to enter.

The proposal aims at making the space more public by connecting it with the surrounding area. Connections will give an impulse not only to the highway as a recreational space, but also to the small public spaces around the highway. This could result in an improvement of the area.

The proposal is a reaction on the plans to demolish the highway. I think that it has a high potential and could be important as a public space, as the city becomes more dense.

Approach:

First I visited the Minhocão during the weekend, when it is used as a recreational space. I tried to see what kind of public visited the highway and how it was used. I made documentation with photographs.

On Monday I will do the same investigation to see how the space is used by cars. I want to see at what times the area is densely used and at what times there is low traffic.

I will also investigate what kinds of uses there are around the highway, looking at formal/informal aspects, as well as public/private use.

Final product:

The final product will be a design proposal to connect the highway as a public space with other public spaces on the ground floor. The design concept will be focussing on certain points of interest where I can make points of connection. I will propose basic design objects that can generate activity on particular places, stimulating developments in the whole area.

The architectural emphasis will be to make proposals that are in line with local characteristics, while also promoting the Monhocão as a comprehensive public space. A reference I have in mind are the pavilions in Parc la Villete in Paris.

Media:

For the analysis I will use sections, sketches and photographs to show the relationship between the elevated highway and the ground floor. Maybe I will use film and try to link it to digital media. I will use a large Google Earth map to show the highway in its context. The final product will be a design proposal with plans and images, in pdf-format.