An architecture degree may provide a vast curriculum, but many of the skills needed for a project lie outside the discipline. This is especially true for urban-scale projects. They demand expertise in areas like traffic studies, structural calculations, landscape design, and technical installation forecasting. These are often seen as "complementary" but are, in fact, fundamental to the overall design.
In a country like Portugal, with a relatively small but geographically diverse territory, the challenge of connecting different parts of the territory – whether to cross a river or link one level of a city to another – is a constant one. Its largest metropolitan areas, such as Lisbon and Porto, share a rugged geography of steep valleys and hills. These features led to the development of elevators and funiculars, like the Santa Justa Lift and the Bica Funicular in Lisbon, and the Guindais Funicular in Porto. Today, besides improving urban mobility, they have become tourist landmarks.
The following urban mobility projects demonstrate how interdisciplinary collaboration between architects and professionals from various fields can result in highly effective and technically sound infrastructure. Ranging from stairs, elevators, escalators, bridges, and paths, these infrastructures employ different strategies to overcome the limits imposed by the local geography.
Paths
Loures Riverfront / Topiaris Landscape Architecture
- Structural Engineering: FTD / JETSJ: Pedro Delgado, Alexandre Pinto, Nuno Silva
- Signage: DESENHARIA: Pedro Silva e Sousa
- Environmental Impact Assessment: Bioinsight
- Construction Company: ABB Group, CARMO, and GEOCONTROLE
Pedreira Do Campo Urban Planning / M-Arquitectos
- Construction: Unipessoal Lda, José Artur Cruz Leal
- Stability And Infrastructure: Ricardo Pacheco
Marginal de Esposende Redevelopment / Victor Neves Arquitectura e Urbanismo
- Landscape: Arqt.º João Gomes ( PROAP)
- Electrical: Engº Tec. Electrotécnico Octávio José Afonso Borges(DGE nº 33988)
- Plumbing: Engº Victor Roque Amaro
Crossings
Cycle and Pedestrian Crossing Over the Fareja Bridge / Rómulo Neto Arquitetos
- Construction: MWT Metalworking Technologies
- Engineering: Eng. Pedro Grave
Pedestrian overpass at Forte da Casa / MXT STUDIO
- Structure: António Pimentel Adão Da Fonseca (Adf Consultores)
- Landscape Consultant: João Ceregeiro
- Street Lighting: António Romano (Sincrono)
- Rainwater Drainage: Marta Azevedo (Campo D'água)
- Health and Safety Plan: Fernando Santo
- Construction: Cordivias
- Inspection: Stagest
Vertical connections
Graça Funicular / Atelier Bugio
- Promoter: EMEL
- Urban Design And Global Strategy: João Favila Menezes . Pedro Domingos . João Simões . Rui Mendes
- Work Supervision: João Favila Menezes . Francesco Mariani
- Contractor: LIFTECH - Rui Pinheiro | TECNOPLANO - Susana Oliveira | RIOBOCO - João Victor . João Morais . Eduardo Couto . Pedro Gonçalves . Gil Teixeira . Milton Jamerico . Patrícia Marção . Pedro Vasconcelos . José Nascimento | ECOCIAF - Miguel Pereira . João Cabral . Nuno Serrano
- Specialities: BETAR - Miguel Villar . Fernando Ferreira | OHMSOR - João Mira | CAMPO D'ÁGUA - Marta Azevedo Pereira . Ricardo Santiago . Vera Martins | BLUE HORIZON - Mário Boucinha | TOPÓGRAFO - Rodrigo Basílio | GEO CONTROLE | TRIBATO - Ana Cotrim | ARQUEOHOJE - Joaquim Garcia . Artur Rocha
Escadas do Monte dos Judeus / Pablo Pita Arquitectos + depA architects
- Engineering: Edgar Brito, CPX, Alexandra Vicentes, MSE
- Signage: OKPA Studio
Escadinhas Footpaths / Paulo Moreira Architectures
- Local Builders: José Silva, Fábio Silva
- Art: Verkron
This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: Architecture Without Limits: Interdisciplinarity and New Synergies. Every month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and architecture projects. We invite you to learn more about our ArchDaily Topics. And, as always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.
