Antiga central geradora do Porto e CFM: reabilitação e requalificação

Abstract

According to Ruskin (1819-1900), the destruction of heritage is not an insignificant evil, without consequences. It is not a matter of mere visual aspect that the buildings are durable and perfect, heritage buildings must last for a sufficient period so that their descendants can understand how their ancestors lived, who they were and where they ascended. John Ruskin also makes considerations about the preservation of public buildings, which for him should be even more precise. As for ornaments, it is necessary that they have a meaning, especially in civic buildings. In history, there are only two winners of the world's oblivion, poetry and architecture, and architecture is the most powerful in its reality, as it gives the opportunity to have within reach what the men of that time thought, felt, handled and contemplated. It is the age of a building that its history gives more dignity to its heritage, the older a building is, the more value it presents to society. For the author, the greatest glory of a building is its lasting testimony before men. Therefore, heritage must have its history written and preserved as such. The main duties of architecture towards humanity, for the author, are: first, to make architecture current, historic; and the second, to preserve, as the most precious of all inheritances. Some forms of conservation are capable of prolonging the life of this heritage, if not, however, one day it will become ruins and disappear. The important thing is that the building is not ruined by restorations that would tarnish its history and that its honor remains intact. Therefore, this work argues that the architecture of conservation, restoration, rehabilitation and requalification of old buildings, specifically the Old Generating Station of the Port of Maputo and the Maputo railway, CFM, should not be forgotten in time and in space and yes we must seek to rescue its history, rescue the building, restoring or rehabilitating it, rescuing its function and/or assigning it to other functions, requalifying it, thus establishing new sets of planes and volumes in a model, in a shell that can awaken the sensorial aspect of man and transcend the user, adding even more cultural, social and economic value to the entity to which the heritage is owned. This concept is addressed in the rehabilitation and requalification of the Old Generating Plant of the Port of Maputo and the Maputo Railways, CFM, where it is decided to maintain the existing functions and add another use function to the building, more specifically activities such as offices and/or service, restaurant and gallery stores, thus generating extra income for the maintenance of the building itself. The work proposes to tell the story of the building, establishing a clear relationship between the new and old way of building a space without altering its original volume. It thus proposes to respond to the theory that “The dialectic between form and expression tensions the boundaries of genre, place and time, seeking the typical beauty of human works”