EDP Headquarters

摘要

This project had to solve a kind of paradox, two forces pulling in opposite directions: on the one hand it had to comply with a Masterplan that required a continuity of the public space from the hills to the river (north-south direction) resulting in a splitting of the building's mass into two linear volumes. On the other hand, the building had to be able to function as one single entity; so the 2 linear volumes had to be connected in the east-west direction threatening the north-south continuity of the public space. So, in order to respond to both forces simultaneously, we folded the ground of the public space with a slight slope that complied with the hill-river continuity and then connected the two linear volumes under the highest point of the folded ground. This artificial sloping ground offered the opportunity to solve another issue of the lot: being on the second row of Lisbon's urban grid, the visual continuity towards the river was more theoretical than real. The building of EDP across the street, even though as a general massing complied with the north- south continuity, at the pedestrian level blocked any perception of the river. So, we laid a piece that by resting on the slope, can-tilevercd towards the river, gaining enough height to be able to lean over the adjacent building achieving a clear view of the Tajo.