Aconchegue: abrigo institucional para adolescentes em situação de rua - sede feminina

Abstract

This academic work aims to perform, at the level of preliminary design, a restoration intervention in the former Bank of London, known at the time as London & Riverplate Bank Limited, located in the neighborhood of Jaraguá, a Special Preservation Zone (ZEP) in Maceió/AL, seeking to fulfill the responsibility to meet its new purpose, an Institutional Shelter for teenagers in street situation, named "Aconchegue", considering the specific needs of the target audience. The choice of the location, once densely inhabited, is based on the potential seen in it, despite the decay that began in the 19th century and continues until today, aggravated by unsuccessful attempts of local revitalization. The scarceness of housing in this portion of the neighborhood creates unsafe areas outside of business hours, being the site mostly uninhabited on weekends. The Aconchegue project introduces a public between the ages of 12 and 18 to the region on a permanent basis, with the aim of reviving the area and giving the adolescents a solid base in which they can develop freely. To do so, guidelines established by governmental entities such as the Statute of the Children and Adolescents (ECA) were used, as well as recommendations from NGOs regarding the minimum necessary for each space to be optimized and comfortable for the physical and emotional demands of these young people, who are urging for a solid base in which they can trust, in an effort to remove some of the weight and mistrust carried by the term "institution", in addition to respecting the legislation in force regarding the rehabilitation of a historical center. The project was developed in a way to respect the historical and cultural relevance of the context, with the construction of a neighborhood timeline and literature review related to the area, under strict control of its interventions, and to the targeted audience, from which the guidelines for the shelter evolve, them being safety, integration and permeability between environments, and freedom to allow the residents to acclimate to life off the streets in a natural way. The project provides a community area on the first floor, including a library, flexible reserved rooms, training workshops, a collective kitchen, and an auditorium, as well as areas for exhibitions, an internal garden, and bathrooms. On the upper floor, restricted to female residents, there is a pantry, rooms with capacity for up to two residents, lockers, and a communal area. Thus, the residential aptitude merges with the building's social potential, giving a new purpose to the edification without decharacterizing it to a greater degree. The work also has the intention of starting debates about the use of historic buildings with the purpose of acting in the city's infrastructure, lending them new uses, so they can have a more active role on behalf of their inhabitants, especially those with fewer opportunities.