Lisbon Expo '98 : Architecture / edited by Luiz Trigueiros and Claudio Sat with Cristina Oliveira ; foreword by Jose

Torres Campos and texts by Antonio Mega Ferreira, Claudio Sat, Joan Busquets ; Organized by Barbara Villalobos and Luis Moreira. - Lisboa : Blau, c1998. - 215 p. : ill. ; 30x29 cm.

LISBON EXPO98 EXPO 98 AND LISBONS RETURN TO THE RIVER : In the fifteenth century Portugal was Europes largest maritime power, its navy comprising over 300 ships and more than half the battle ships of the European armadas. In the middle of the 16th century , Lisbon was not only the main link between Europe and other continents but also one of the most important commercial, financial, technical, scientific and demographic centers. The relationship between the city and the river was of overwhelming importance. Lisbon identified with its riverfront: it was there that the majority of its economic, political, social and cultural activities took place. Up until the 18th century, Lisbon was a riverside city par excellence city life was closely linked to the river and the sea; the riverfront was Lisbons principal, noble faade, the river Tagus the great road . Lisbons medieval structure was essentially an organic space, the result of a slow adjustment during which functions, activities and social classes became intermingled, the area around the riverfront simultaneously the front and the back of the city. The affairs of the royal court were conducted near ship building and maintenance, large commerce was mixed with small activities that supported the riverside population. Even today, the idea of the Lisbon, Riverside City is associated with the memory og the fifteenth century city; with what is left of the various urban riverside spaces. The morphology and the place names connected with the sites and life of those times. With the catastrophe and crisis caused by the 1755 earthquake, Lisbon underwent profound change, with political, technical and financial resources mobilized in order to re-plan the city. Although the riverfront and its relationship with the river retained their central role in the plans to transform and modernize Lisbon, there was also a clear intention to connect the city to the interior and create new areas of economic development, paying special attention to commerce and industry. In fact, if the earthquake led to the reconstruction of much of the city of Lisbon and its most dynamic economic and social zone in particular, Pombals plans for the city focused on the renovation-on a modern basis of its political, administrative and commercial centre, providing the opportunity for an eighteenth century enlightenment project that recreated and enhanced the traditional connection between Lisbon and the river in the Praca do comercio.

A short time after the earthquake, in the middle of the nineteenth century during the wave of public works that modernized the countrys infrastructures, internsive development work was begun in Lisbon port, railway lines were laid, stations were built and new urban infrastructures were erected. After decades of studies. Plans and indecision regarding development of the Lisbon riverfront- concepts ranging from more romantic plans to urbanise the port to more functional pnes- it was decided that the port would undergo engineering works which would configure the new riverfront profile with its docks, access roads and warehouses. Throughout the twentieth century, Lisbon has consolidated this interiorisation in relation to the river, accentuated by the metropolitanisation that took place during the fifties and sixties. On the riverfront, the city was left with just two public spaces forming relationships with the river Prace do Comercio and Praca do Cais do Sodre. Other areas were occupied by activities dependent on the accessibility created by the port, the railway and the regional road network, or the availability of cheap, poor quality land that the new landfills provided. Urban planning during the nineteen forties sweved to plan and institutionalize this organization of the city and to accentuate the dichotomy between East Lisbon essentially a dirty, industrial working class area and West Lisbon a clean, predominantly, residential recreational and tourist zone. Urban segmentation of the riverfront, involving industrial zoning and the delimitation of railway, port and military zones and urban service areas ) water, electricity, fuel, gas ), was reinforced from an administrative point of view during the last century with the establishment of special administrative regimes. These provided various entities with jurisdiction and administrative autonomy over the different sections of the area. This functionalization of the riverfront and its legal and institutional framework strongly confitioned the re-encounter of the various activities and forms of urban life with the river. The ideas contest for the Riverside Zone launched bu the Association of Portugese Architects in 1988, set out to achieve the idea Turning the city towards the River and led to debate and renewed interests on the part of the city in its fluvial and maritime faade. The Ideas Contest (1988), the planning and construction of the Belem Cultural Centre ( 1988-92), the Strategic Plans and the Lisbon Master Plan (1990-94), the POZOR- Riverside Area Zoning Plan ( 1993-94), and the decision to hold EXPO98 in the east of Lisbon are very recent landmoarks and testaments to a turnaround in the way in which the relation between the City and the River is seen and to the opportunity to re-think Lisbon as a riverside city. The decision to locate the EXPO98 in the east of the city, an industrial area crippled by a process of relocation on the part of the great industrial units, created the right condition for a controlled reconversion, in form and in time, of a vast area that was rapidly becoming more run-down and neglected, with a highly negative environmental impact on the city and river.

The EXPO98 operation ( set in 340 hectares, with 5 km of riverfront ) and the joint construction of important transport infrastructures, including the new bridge across the Tagus ( Vascoda Gama Bridge ), has given undeniable importance to this project in terms of the development of the city and the metropolitan area: not only will it create a new image of the city and a means of redeveloping the riverfront. The redevelopment of the EXPO98 zone was approached as an urbanistic plan to modernize and internationalise the city, in terms of urban technologies, architectural styles and the thematic and functional programme of certain structuring equipment, as well as the process of managing and promoting the undertaking. THE URBANISATION OF THE REDEVELOPMENT AREA : Plans and Projects for the Public Area : The Regional Plan for the Spatial Planning of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area ( PRO-TAML) focused on the redevelopment of the eastern riverside zone of the city of Lisbon which, in 1993, was a little more than an abandoned, run-down peripheral area occupied by unsightly, polluting and hazardous industrial premises. Following the detailed architectural and urban planning studies expressed in the Ideas Contest for the Renovation of the Riverside Zone, launched by the Association of Portugese Architects in 1988 and the VALIS, in 1990, a study of the location of EXPO98 was carried out in 1991, the Preliminary Master Plan for which was drawn up by the architects Carlos Duarte and Jos Lamas and guaranteed the holding og the event in Lisbon, having completed successfully against other cities throughout the world. Urbanisation Plan : The Urbanization Plan, the aim of which is the urban renovation and reconversion of the Redevelopment Area and the priority development of EXPo98, is based on the following strategic objectives : Enhancement of the geographical uniqueness of the Redevelopment Area along the Tagus ruver and its central role in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area road and rail network; Implementation of a multifunctional structure forming a metropolitan- sized pole of high environmental and urban quality. To make maximum advantage of the holding of EXPO98 and implementation projects and plans that share in the urban development and reconversion process, Incorporation within the PROTAML strategy, articulation with the Lisbon and Loures Mater Plans and establishment of the Urbanisation Plan within the legally required limits in order to allow for the development of alternatives that may be drawn up in the Detailed Plans (PP)

The town planning concepts formally implemented in the Urbanisation Plan are:

Compliance with the high impact environmental and urbanistic conditioning factors in the Redevelopment Area; Development of a road network, linked with the metropolitan network, and extension of the centrality and attractiveness of the Redevelopment Area as far as possible Continuity with the surrounding urban fabric, and the functional and visual transposition of existing barriers to this continuity; General layout of the major axrs, junctions and precincts of the urban structure, obeying the principle that the publich spaces should help structure the urban renovation supported by five physical components that determine this design:

The Panoramic Platform raised above the ground, at the level of the railway platform, articulated with the Main Thoroughfare; The Central Boulevard major longitudinal axis interconnecting the transverse boulevards and allowing urban redevelopment and reconversion to be continued to the south of the Redevelopment Area; The Diagonal Boulevard articulated with the refinery tower and the Cabeco das Rolas viewpoints, reinforcing the uniqueness of these elements and moving them to the centre of the urban scene; The Riverside Walk and the Docks articulated with the riverfront and via the transverse boulevards, with the Central Boulevard and the Panoramic Platform. The Riverside Park articulated with the banks of the River Tagus and River Trancao, providing continuity to the north. Reduced number of buildings from the innermost strip pnwards, adjacent to the railway line, which is treated as a densely built-up central urban area with strong visual impact, and as an esplanade and public promenade with fewer buildings and rarefied volumetry, on the riverfront; Diverse range of urban fabrics, encouraging high quality, unique architecture and the aesthetic and environmentally balanced composition of the exterior spaces; Constitution of a continuous green area, integrated with the built environment, and enhancement of the riverside view system; Provide maximum flexibility in terms of town planning management, respecting established concepts.

Detailed Plans : The detailed plans (PP) are the administrative and town planning management instruments necessary for the legal formalization of the division of the land into urban lots and its respective alienation. The Detailed Plans, drawn up in accordance with the specific legislation established for the Redevelopment Area, contain a definition and description of the parcels of land and regulations governing their sub-division into urban lots- implemented by means of sub-division plans- with Parque Expo 98, S.A respective rights. Further Subdivision plans are made, which are consistent and make sure that the concepts contained in the Urbanisation Plan are implemented, the latter includes units and planning and management sub-units regulated by the Detailed Plans- and identifies the reference urban plans (PUR), the reference building plans (PER), and the plans for the interstitial areas (PAI), as well as regulations governing urban unification and characterization. The PURs cover the urban zones in which the urban continuity and structures determine the urban image, forming its structuring axes: Panoromic Platform, Main Thoroughfare and Sun Entrance, in PP1; Dock and Riverside Walk, Boulevard and Central Plaza, in PP2; Riverside Walk, Central Boulevard Sea Entrance and Caneco das ROlas, in PP3; Main thoroughfare, Central Thouroughfare and North Entrances, Rua Joao Pinto Riberio and the Via da Portela, in PP4. The PERs cover the urban zones whose urban image is determined by the uniqueness of the buildings, forming its structuring poles: Oriente Station, the building at the top of the Main Thoroughfare and the central Panoramic Platform buildings, in PP1; Portugese Pavilion, Ocean Pavilion, Refinery Tower, Multipurpose Pavilion, Exhibition Centre, in PP2; screen building in PP3; spiral building in PP4. Lastly the PAIs cover the urban fabric that completes and homogenizes the urban structure. PP1 Central Zone Detailed Plan PP3- South Zone Detailed Plan PP4- North Zone Detailed Plan PP5- Sacavm Zone Detailed Plan PP6- The Tagus and Trancao Park Plan Public Space Plans : The public space plan for the urban areas to be developed during the EXPO phase, executed after the Detailed Plans and co-ordinated with the plans for the layout of the streets and subsoil infrastructures. Were drawn up in general terms by the authors of the Detailed Plans, the aim being to implement the concepts established and satisfy the planning requirements of the work contracted out. This implied a lot of complex work monitoring, harmonizing and coordinating the overall project. Plans for the Central Zone Public Area: Plans for the public area of PP1, covering the Main Thoroughfare and adjacent zones and developed at Parque EXPO 98, S.A under the direction of Architect Luis Viana Baptista, focused on three main aims :

To provide in the very short term, during the staging of EXPO98, an impressive image of quality To provide in the long term, by the time the urban reconversion has been completed, the image of a period and a generation for the history of the city of Lisbon; To provide in the medium term, after the EXPO98, a sustainable image of quality that will contribute in its most critical phase towards the success of the EXPO-URBE real estate operation.

The main Thoroughfare has been given the nature of an avenue, individualized at its ends by the Roundabouts and in its middle section by the Plaza. The main factors behind its design were the buildings, road network and trees, complemented by the public lighting, the design of the pavements and surfaces, and the structures and installations of the public area. So as to maximize the comfort and safety of the pedestrian circulation route, 65% of its length was kept free of obstacles- ground level installations or equiptments. The urban architecture norms expressed in PP1, governing the facades of the arcades, base courses, pedestrian bridges, were consolidated. The green belt zone helps unify and identify this area, and is articulated as a whole with the diverse nature of the surroundings. Depending on their location and setting, the plans define sub-units that are given quite distinct treatment the Main Thoroughfare, the Transverse Thoroughfare, the Panoramic Platform, the Station Plaza and the Roundabouts. The same criteria were also applied to the other physical element within the public area. Paving for the pavements, comprised of limestone setts, is based on simple geometric pattern which provides a floating visual effect rendering its variable rhythm compatible with the multiple uses of the soil- boilers, surface equipment and street furniture. Plans for the South Zone Public Area. The design of the public area of PP3, drawn up under the direction of the architect Troufa Real, develops the concept of the above mentioned urban reference models, organizing the path followed by the underground infrastryctyres to ensure the viability of the landscaping and soil architecture proposals with the intervention of landscape designers, plastic artists and urban system planners and obtain creative solutions using coherent, traditional materials. These solutions, obeyting norms and standards that govern the design, although retaining a certain affinity with the areas adjacent through the use of common materials mosaic limestone paving, limestone, granite and basalt setts, textured, colored, concrete modules, coloured stone and cememnt mortar, coloured bituminous concretes- develop new design patterns, avoiding their unification by the modular geometry of the EXPO98 site. The design of the geometry patterns adopted stands out like an indented engraving, constituting a creative innovation in the tradition of traditional surfacing in the city of Lisbon.

The planting plans, which define the main green belt which runs along the Central Boulevard and extends into the Cabeco das Rolas Park and the Triangular Garden and the secondary green beltrecreational interface on the Riverside Walk, a curtain of trees along the main streets, protective interface in front of the railway and green backdrop in other situations lend a unique and individual character to the different spaces within an overall framework of conceptual unity, one which is particularly emphasized in this area. Plans for the North Zone Public Area : The plans for the public area of PP4, drawn up under the direction of architects Duarte Cabral de Mello and Maria Manuel Almeida, sought to renew the tradition of exterior urban spaces in Portugal formal and informal spaces paved with granite or limestone setts, large surfaces that are open or partitioned and characterized by the use of vegetation- rows of trees or clumps of plants and bushes- by the use of built elements walls, causeways, viewpoints- water displays fountains, ponds, water pipes and structures that not only provide shade but also enhance the pleasant nature of the environment pergolas. Stone slabs or setts are used to surface most of the pavements, allowing various patterns to be designed and enabling them to be reused whenever work has to be carried out beneath the pavement. These same elements can also be found at various strategic locations, where they are either displayed as sculptured works of art or in their natural form. The circulation of areas and car parking areas are treated in integration fashion in terms of profilesurfacing and landscaping- so as to provide the necessary partitioning, compfort and safety without losing the unity and global dimension of the space. This means that the ends of the mainly pedestrian streets have a continual paved surface that drains into a central gutter. To sum up, the urban fabric emerges from two overlaying grids: one composed of the traffic thoroughfares with linear developments and orthogonal structures; the other more organic and composite, resulting from the configuration of the street blocks, the layout of the buildings, the design of the squares and plazas, lakes and public gardens. The most important points of these grids, where the two converge, create unique spaces which require a different architectural treatment. These important points are the Viceroys Roundabout, its visual treatment underscored by the use of water; the Jacaranda Garden, with an interiorized rest area modeled on the terrain; the Terreiro das Ondas a large Garden-like square with differently treated and equipped spaces; the Largo das Bicas, with a sculpture and fountain; the city park; the Rossio de Levante, an ample fairground planted with trees; the Riverside Gardens, local compositions that provide the rhythm for the riverside path; the Oliverias Roundabout, a reminder of the olive trees that once grew here; the Portela Roundabout, a landscape modeled on three levels. The banks of the neck of water, designed as a sheltered place, pleasant and itimate, were planned to offer differing environments: a landscape walk on two levels, on the south side; steps leading up to the

water, exposed to the sun, on the north side; waterfalls, preceding the neck of water and the view of the Tagus, a continual whole, on the west side. At the northern border of PP4, the urban area gradually changes, making the transition- through changes in the use and fragmentation of the volumes, openings and views- from a dense urban grid comprised of traditional public spaces to a more open urban precint with informal public spaces which extend all the way through the City Park. Plans for Cabeco das Rolas : Cabeco das Rolas is a unique spot in the Redevelopment Area, commanding panoramic views over the estuary of the Tagus River. A prominent hilltop approximately 30 meters above the riverside promenade and low-lying marshes, it was terraced when the deposits and tanks of the refinery were constructed. This configuration led its authors, architects Troufa Real and landscape architect Ribeiro Telles, to take advantage of both the continuous system of view the hillside enjoys and its profile, which resembles that of a pyramid-shaped promontory. References to the industries once located here were introduced, such as reservoirs and platforms, the use of brick to face the walls that shape it; Mediterranean flora was used in the constrtuction of a continuous system of corridors, and attempts were made to provide the general structure of the project with recreational, cultural, pedagogical and contemplative functions in the forms of the cultural mosaic of the traditional landscape of the Olivais hillside. Thus, the space is broken up into different areas : the orange grove, the water garden, taking advantage of the existing reservoirs, the kitchen gardens facing west, the olive grove on the slope overlooking Olivais, the pyramid-shaped columbarium on the platform and promontory. Cabeco das Rolas is thus a unique, emblematic element in the urban and environment renovation of the Redevelopment Area recuperating and enhancing the geographical and industrial memory of the area in its reconversion to a unique green space in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, the city of Lisbon and the Redevelopment Area, constituting a preponderant element in its principal green structure. Plans for the Expo Phase Car Parks: The parking areas constitute platforms on different levels connected to the surrounding public space by embankments. Built to satisfy service requirements, to keep costs as low as possible and to short and medium term maintenance requirements, they adopt contemporary construction techniques- concrete surfacing was not a viable option given the nature and dampness of the soul- and standard, reusable components. The most predominant aspect of the design of the EXPO phase car parks, besides the global implementation of the public spaces during this phase, is their contribution to the unity of the treatment and scenic restoration of the Redevelopment Area, preventing these areas from becoming urban, scenic and environmental desserts. The trees, planted in containers to allow them to be easily transplanted to their definitive locations Tagus and Trancao City Park and the Interstitial Green Zones that have yet to be developed- were chosen according to the Planting Plan and Programme Contracts established for the acquisition of trees

for the Redevelopment Area, and distributed in such a way as to maximize suitability of location, environmental comfort and aesthetic function. Added to the plans for the car parks are the plans for the embankments, commons and other unused spaces, all of which are coherently integrated within the complementary green structure of the Redevelopment Area. Urban Art, Water Displays, Urban Equipment and Street Furniture, Signposts : The plans for the Urban Art, Water Displays, Urban Equipment and Street Furniture, and Signposts contribute decisively towards qualification of the public space, and carry out the specific functions required for the correct use and enjoyment of this space, its cultural history and identification. As far as Urban Art and Water Displays are concerned, national and foreign plastic artists representing a wide range of current generations and experience were selected.