Programmatic pillar Settlement – Transformed Territories

Curated by Mário Mesquita

Walk oriented by Frederico Moura e Sá

From the old roads leading out of the city towards the east and north, through the construction of the railway, to the proliferation of expressways and motorways, Porto’s Oriental District is criss-crossed by roads and viaducts that leave the many spaces through which they merely pass to be occupied, developed or integrated, without creating any sort of urban fabric. 

However, these are overlapping traces of various periods of transformation that are entirely linked to traffic dynamics and circulation patterns which extend far beyond the local scale, clearly demonstrating their regional and metropolitan character – factors that are key to understanding the very process of the city’s settlement, development and urbanisation. Indeed, it is journeys through time and space that this exploratory route offers, inviting an immersive experience into the intricacies of these accessibility structures, and a direct perception through sensory observation of the places, at the places and with the places.