Bairro Maria Vitorina
Oporto, Portugal
Housing
1.377 m2
2019
Bairro Maria Vitorina is an ilha within Porto’s inner fabric, shaped by the city’s industrial expansion and the housing needs of its working population. These compact clusters of modest homes are typically defined by narrow passageways, shared courtyards, and a proximity that turns circulation space into a social space. Over time, this urban form has become both an architectural trace of labour histories and a lived framework for everyday community.
The project starts from this dual condition. On the one hand, the ilha is a fragile residential environment that often struggles to meet contemporary expectations of comfort and long-term use. On the other hand, its spatial economy supports a social proximity that many conventional housing models fail to produce. The proposal, therefore treats the site not simply as a set of units to be updated, but as a collective living structure whose underlying relationships are worth retaining.
MASSLAB’s intervention reworks the former ilha into a contemporary housing complex while preserving the neighbourhood’s communal character. The strategy concentrates on shared spaces as a way to sustain sociability without turning it into a theme. New communal areas are introduced to support informal encounters and everyday routines, reinforcing the role of thresholds, courtyards, and collective spaces as the social infrastructure of the project.
Rather than replace the existing logic of living together, the redevelopment aims to adapt it. The ambition is to carry forward the sense of belonging embedded in the ilha typology, while reshaping the residential environment to meet present-day needs within a modern urban context.
Status
Complete, Private
Client
António Fonseca
Design team
Duarte Ramalho Fontes
Paulo Vale Afonso
Pedro Faustino
Joana Porto Saraiva
Helena Guedes
Vasco Calheiros
Bruno Henriques
Nuno Gameiro
Consultants
Tekk Engenheiros Consultores
BISTO
P4 - Artes e Técnicas da Paisagem
