Fighters' Square

Category: Civil Architecture > Memorial

District: Porto > Vila Nova de Gaia > Pedroso e Seixezelo

Location

Located in the locality of Pedroso and Seixezelo, in the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia, Praça dos Combatentes (Combatants' Square) offers a public space designed for the enjoyment of its visitors. Its design harmoniously integrates into the local urban fabric, establishing a visual relationship with the built environment, characteristic of the area.

It is a central point in the community's experience, serving both as a thoroughfare and a place for lingering, inviting interaction and rest in the daily life of the parish.

Space Design and Use

The square was conceived with a set of simplified elements, predominantly expressed at pavement level. Its central space has an oval shape, with varying widths that allow for a variety of appropriations and uses, adapting to diverse activities, from simply passing through to moments of leisure and socializing.

One of its distinctive features is its perimeter, delineated by a continuous concrete element. This bench, with a generous width, was designed to be versatile, allowing people to sit, lie down, or simply lean, whether facing the interior of the square or the surrounding green areas.

Memory and Symbolism

Praça dos Combatentes (Combatants' Square) pays a subtle yet profound tribute to the soldiers who served in the Portuguese Colonial War. The memorial is not presented as a rigid and imposing structure, but as an integral part of the square's design itself, inviting reflection without imposing physical limits.

This element of memory unfolds into two main components: on the pavement are the drawn and cut-out silhouettes of the borders of the former conflict territories, Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau. Additionally, a continuous line of Cor-ten steel diagonally crosses the square, displaying a numerical sequence that represents the total number of soldiers mobilized from the beginning of the conflict until its end in 1974. The square is thus, simultaneously, a place for play, for rest, for passage, and for deep historical memory.

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt