A Casa Grande de Romarigães. Um contributo histórico e arquitectónico

A Casa Grande de Romarigães terá sido erguida em 1700 em Romarigães, no concelho de Paredes de Coura, em torno da construção da capela de Nossa Senhora do Amparo, conformando a Quinta do Amparo. Terá servido de cenário literário a uma das mais simbólicas obras do escritor Aquilino Ribeiro – A Casa Grande de Romarigães, escrita entre 1950 e 1957, ano da sua publicação. A estrutura arquitectónica foi classificada como Imóvel de Interesse Público em 1986, atribuição que, apesar de demonstrar a preocupação de proteger e conservar este legado histórico e arquitectónico, ainda não derivou em nenhum estudo rigoroso sobre a sua evolução morfológica – instrumento fundamental para a coerência de futuras intervenções neste lugar. Com base nas constantes descrições na obra de Aquilino Ribeiro, e do seu confronto com a documentação histórica entretanto encontrada (escrita e gráfica, em grande parte inédita), este trabalho de investigação propõe o desenho da evolução morfológica da casa ao longo dos tempos, bem como a enunciação da influência deste solar para a organização social, cultural e económica da aldeia de Romarigães. Procura, enfim, e num sentido mais lato, indagar sobre a utilidade de um documento literário para o lançamento de hipóteses no contexto de uma investigação arquitectónica, consubstanciadas pela posterior comprovação através de fontes primárias; ABSTRACT: A Casa Grande de Romarigães (The Great House of Romarigães) was erected in early XVIII century, in Romarigães, Paredes de Coura, nearby the chapel of Nossa Senhora do Amparo, the chosen name for the villa – Quinta do Amparo. This house and villa has been the literary scene of one of the most remarkable works of the writer Aquilino Ribeiro (1885C1963) – A Casa Grande Romarigães, written between 1950 and 1957, the year of its publication. In 1986, the architectural structure is classified as cultural heritage by the Portuguese state but, despite the meaningful idea of preservation and protection of the historical legacy and architecture, there has not been an initiative to study its morphological evolution and architectural relevance – key tool for future and consistent interventions in such rich and particular scenario. Based on descriptions that can be found in the work of Aquilino Ribeiro, and supported with historical documentation research (both written and graphic, mostly unpublished), this work suggests the design of the morphological evolution of the house over the years, together with the construction of its influence on social, cultural and economic organization of the village of Romarigães. In a broader sense, this work intends to inquire about the usefulness of a literary document for launching assumptions in the context of an architectural research, substantiated by further evidence through primary sources.

Coastal lagoons and their watersheds as GWDE: a case study in the southwest coast of Portugal

The study of groundwater dependent ecosystems opened the opportunity to involve specialists of different areas of knowledge in order to obtain answers for complex interrelations between groundwater and the associated ecosystems. The actual study, carried out in two coastal lagoons of the Portuguese SW coast, showed the high dependency of the marine life and vegetation of the lagoons and associated streams discharging in the lagoons on the fresh water supply of these two lagoons and the high contribution they receive from groundwater in the dry period, which corresponds to more than half of each hydrologic year. Every year, the lagoons are artificially opened to the ocean for a few days to a few weeks, which dramatically changes the inside salinity. The sensitivity of these ecological niches is demonstrated by the strong dependence that some species that are more sensitive to high salinity waters show in relation to the entrance of freshwater resultant from the discharge of the phreatic aquifer of Sines sedimentary Basin. The great biodiversity of these lagoons and its precarious balance is only possible to preserve if the aquifer continue to act as a regulatory factor of the lagoon’s salinity. The equilibrium can be changed in the event of overexploitation of the phreatic aquifer, which is not at risk in the near future. In a scenario of climate change the lagoons will benefit from a slow increase in groundwater contribution, due to the rise of sea level, which will be accompanied by a rise in groundwater levels in the aquifer near the sea.

City & Spectacle: A Vision of Lisbon Before the 1755 Great Earthquake

City & Spectacle: a vision of pre-earthquake Lisbon consists of a virtual recrea on of the city of Lis- bon on the eve of the great earthquake of 1 November 1755, giving shape to a laboratory model for research into the city’s history. As its star ng point the project has the virtual recrea on of one the most emblema c of spaces from 18th century Lisbon, the Royal Opera House, which disappeared during the 1755 earthquake. The recrea on of the Opera House was developed in the scope of the commemora- ons of the 250th anniversary of the 1755 catastrophe as an a empt to restore this space of the highest ar s c quality to memory and to return it to the inventory of the Portuguese heritage of architectural history.1 Using Second Life® technology it was possible to put forward a model of both the struc- ture and interiors of the Opera House as well as its anima on combined with a small piece of the opera presented at the inaugura on of the building in April 1755. The public presenta on of this virtual model at the conference 1755: Catástrofe, memória e arte (1755: catastrophe, memory and art), which took place at the Centro de Estudos Compara- stas, Universidade de Lisboa, led to a debate on the study and cri cal analysis of documentary sources and their selec on and applica on on recrea ons using virtual world technology. It also emphasized the need to extend the research on pre-earthquake Lisbon.