A glimpse at the winning PORTO Pool Promenade design ideas

For the Portuguese city of Porto, maintaining its historical connection with the Duoro River is essential as tourism in the city gradually increases. CTRL+SPACE organized the PORTO Pool Promenade ideas competition to explore innovative public space designs that would keep Porto connected to its waterfront while also accommodating more leisurely urban activities.

Three entries were awarded the top prizes in the single-stage competition:

• 1ST PRIZE (€3500): “GENESIS” by Konstantinos Kosmas and Nestoras Skantzouris | Athens - Greece
• 2ND PRIZE (€1000): Katarzyna Toczynska, Katarzyna Les niewska and Alicja Wozniak | Poznan - Poland
• 3RD PRIZE (€500): “Peças de cidade, pedaços de rio” - “City parts, river pieces” by Lorenzo Majer, Anna Merci and Mart a Bianchi | Italy

Five Honorable Mentions were also selected.

1ST PRIZE: “GENESIS” by Konstantinos Kosmas and Nestoras Skantzouris | Athens – Greece

From the authors: “The triangular monolith emerges from the river as a missing piece of the surrounding landscape. Now it seems complete. The newborn island cracks and reveals the lagoon hidden in its core. Man inhabits the new river bank with the help of smaller alterations of the solid through steps, paths and engraved markings. A landscape for human activity, a topos.”

From the Jury: “The Jury praised this proposal as being a unique proposal, a bare-minimum, gestural approach to the most basic needs of the place. This project is comprised of a geometrical element that generates deliberately an empty public space, a functionally uncompromising structure. The sloping plane answers to the different water levels, changing its shape. This was recognized as an iconic monolithic approach that would impact the city life , an object that captivates by the poetic moments it helps generate.”

2ND PRIZE: Katarzyna Toczynska, Katarzyna Les niewska and Alicja Wozniak | Poznan - Poland

From the Jury: “Exceptional project that is rich and varied working with one single theme: the variations in scale of the stairs/steps element. The reference to the steps and terraces of Douro and Porto is clear , but also interestingly adapted to the functional needs of the place. It gets its shape in reaction to the immediate surroundings and successfully integrates them with the functions required. The existing green structure of the river is maintained and integrated to provide greater value to the proposal. The Jury felt this to be an interesting approach that by being broken in smaller fragments, responds in a better way to the functional needs, as well as creating a diverse and harmonious intervention in relation to the city."

3RD PRIZE: “Peças de cidade, pedaços de rio” - “City parts, river pieces” by Lorenzo Majer, Anna Merci and Mart a Bianchi | Italy

From the Jury: "The Jury praised this to be an accurate reading of the different moments of the city on the riverside, translated into the project as two momen ts, the Quay and the River Park. A strong value was placed in the good relation to the city fabric; the surroundings are emulated, with basis on a graphic grid. The clarity of thought is felt across the whole intervention. The strategy of the public path as a grid mainframe, helps intertwine the otherwise scattered program along the riverfront. The Jury team felt that this was a somewhat static proposal, made rich and dynamic by the incidental water level variation, which it fruitfully engages and integrates."

All images courtesy of CTRL+SPACE.

Check out the Honorable Mentions below.