Porto Alegre

Location Porto Alegre (Brasil)
Client P. Cais Mauá do Brasil
Area 244.286 m² + 380.074 m² landscape
Year 2011
Status Under Construction
Typology Infrastructure
Collaborator Jaime Lerner Arquitetos Associados
Visuals b720

The transformation of Cais Mauá involves includes 2.5 km of riverfront and 244,286 m² of buildings. This entails transforming the old fish markets into cultural, leisure and small business areas, minimizing as much as possible the effects of the existing protective barrier between the city and the waterfront. The large buildings are located at the ends of the intervention: two office towers at one end and a hotel with a convention center and a shopping center at the opposite end.

The refurbishment of Cais Mauá makes possible the introduction of unique building volumes that coexist in harmony with the city’s heritage, enhancing the image of centrality. To this end, intensive work has been done to connect the central area of the city and the pier, to mend the currently fragmented fabric, to create an urban synergy between them, revitalizing the adjacent urban fabric and recovering the Guaíba lagoon for the city. Thus, as opposed to the orthogonal and rigid pattern of the city, piers and fluctuating squares will enter the Guaíba in a heterogeneous and natural way. The outdoor areas will be destined for pedestrian circulation, with a careful treatment of the landscape that will include protected areas, accesses to buildings and parking areas.