The requalification project, designed by the architects Álvaro Siza Vieira and Eduardo Souto Moura, was presented this morning at the Paços do Concelho building.

Rio stressed that this change will increase the pedestrian area, allow for the planting of more trees than those currently existing on the avenue which, after being reformulated, “will be more suitable and appealing for the city’s festivities”. Siza Vieira explained that he had studied the history do Porto to design the project, claiming to transform that avenue, which in practice encompasses three different toponymies (Praça do General Humberto Delgado, Avenida dos Aliados and Praça da Liberdade), into a “unique space”.

In front of the Porto City Hall, the statue of Almeida Garrett will remain, as well as the limestone pavement, and on the next platform, where the metro station is located, will be the new fountain.

In Praça da Liberdade, according to Siza Vieira, the statue of D. Pedro IV remains, but in a space “with a lost centrality”.

“[The entire avenue] will be treated as a single space, canceling the ambiguity that results from an evolution that has never been completed”, said the architect.

All the landscaped spaces will disappear, but, on the other hand, trees will be planted all along the avenue and, up to the area of ​​the statue of Almeida Garrett, granite will be the material of choice, including for the three lanes on each side of the Aliados.

“The asphalt will be replaced by granite, we want everything to have the same color, to give the idea of ​​a wider and more uniform avenue”, said Souto Moura.

As for lighting, in order to cope with the different types of lamps existing in the same space, the architects decided to replace and restore the model of the pole that ends with three white lamps.

During the presentation of the project, the architects showed several European squares where central spaces predominate, without gardens, but with trees.

Source: https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/pais/requalificacao-altera-depth-avenida-dos-aliados-rui-rio_n7114