University Stadium / Crea - Arquitetos

closed

To the east, the buildings open out generously onto the playing fields, inscribing the same compositional dynamics in the arrangement of the concrete pillars of the facade, which either create balconies or large planes framing the lawn. There is a certain austerity evident in the grandstand, that was also borrowed for the synthetic approach we are looking for in the new buildings: the pigmented concrete of the façades also invades the interior, and it is the same terracotta-colored material of the ceilings and ground floor, introducing a vibrancy that contrasts with the grandstand sobriety, and with the tree tops of the surroundings.The access for the spectators is made through the staircases at the top of the grandstand, and we promoted a significant increase in the covered area by redesigning the roof. On the longitudinal alignment of the existing grandstand we designed two new buildings, which absorb the program of the CDUP headquarters and support for university students, including work offices, meeting and social rooms and multipurpose facilities. In attentive relation with the pre-existing volume and composition, their design was contaminated by the grandstand metric, but it frees itself from that rigorous symmetry, reinterpreted in a more fluid and dynamic movement.The existing grandstand building, of rationalist inspiration, reflected in the composition and sobriety of the elevation to the access road, arranged in strict symmetry and with a composition defined by a metric of pillars that converge in the porticoed entrance - a loggia over the street that marks the passage to the interior of the stadium. The chiseled bas-reliefs in granite mural stand out, with motifs that refer to the imagery of classical antiquity mythology and the ancient original games. Alongside with the structural refurbishment, the interior space was redesigned to include the support areas for the playing fields, with its access made through the central portico open to the street.Text description provided by the architects.The project for the rehabilitation and extension of the grandstand and headquarters of CDUP was promoted by the University of Porto and developed by Crea, within the University Stadium context, located in the Quinta do Campo Alegre, and inaugurated in 1953. It was a long process, with a pandemic in between, and has recently re-opened to the community. We were challenged to renovate the existing grandstand building, as well as to integrate the new buildings for the CDUP, and it was this spirit of designing a cohesive whole that inspired the project, also because architecture should not and cannot break with the context, and must be relational in time.