Infrastructure steps in the city

Infrastructures position themselves far and close, tangentially or embedded; dividing or connecting, inserted or flying over inhabited areas. In some cases, infrastructure appears as a figure of autonomous order that meets a variable background of stratified historical and contextual layers. This is...

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Bibliographic Details
Author: Villalonga Munar, Pablo|||0000-0002-3400-7409
Format: book part
Publication Date:2025
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repository:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/443342
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/443342
https://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003495338-10
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:City planning -- Portugal -- Lisbon
Landscape architecture -- Portugal -- Lisbon
Aqueducts -- Portugal -- Lisbon
Infrastructure
Architecture
Streets intersection
Inhabited viaduct
Urbanisme -- Portugal -- Lisboa
Arquitectura del paisatge -- Portugal -- Lisboa
Aqüeductes -- Portugal --Lisboa
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Urbanisme
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria civil::Enginyeria hidràulica, marítima i sanitària::Canals i regadius
Description
Summary:Infrastructures position themselves far and close, tangentially or embedded; dividing or connecting, inserted or flying over inhabited areas. In some cases, infrastructure appears as a figure of autonomous order that meets a variable background of stratified historical and contextual layers. This is the case of some intersections between elevated linear infrastructures and architectures of the sedimented city. These encounters produce situations of contrast that shape exceptional architectural and urban forms. Lisbon is a fertile and representative field of case studies where infrastructure meets the city in a particular way. The conditioning produced by its geography produces a complex built environment, nurtured by urban and architectural challenges. Viaducts and aqueducts intersect with buildings, streets, squares and other urban elements. This research focuses on their interactions, exploring their relationships and understanding them through a disciplinary opened architectural point of view. The objective is to obtain multiple views, making visible their tangible and intangible dimensions, their potentialities and complexities. Lisbon’s case studies are part of a European atlas of encounters, a resource of common patterns, and a comparative instrument of their extraordinary differences. The chapter builds a collection of transfigurations that refer to conflicts, agreements, and potential project strategies. The confluence of tensions in the encounters triggers questions about the boundaries of what is defined as architecture, urbanism, or infrastructure.