MACAU, CHINA
uNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH, mASTERS YEAR II - 2017/18
The Pátios of Macau
Pátios are a unique housing typology in Macau. They typically consist of a cluster of dwellings around a central communal courtyard. The courtyard provides a setting for a collective community to socialise and share daily tasks and rituals. However, in the last 50 years demand for high density housing has resulted in many of the pátios being replaced by multi-storey development. Macau’s historic town centre was granted heritage status by UNESCO in 2005 but pátios were not mentioned. As a result, the future of the Pátios and the unique way of life they represent is under threat.
The Urban Artefact
The urban artefact, as defined by Aldo Rossi, is not only a building, but a fragment of the city. The urban artefact is not just a physical object in the city, but all of its history, geography, structure and connection with the general life of the city. Buildings, towns and cities are reflections and incarnations of human aspiration and ontological meaning. Society has created a reflection of humanity upon the morphology of the city.
- Aldo Rossi,
The Architecture of the City, 1984
The Inner Harbour Initiative
The Inner Harbour Initiative (IHI) celebrates the city of Macau as a place of exchange between the east and west over the last 400 years and looks to engage the local community into recognising how the urban landscape has helped shape this. IHI is a research centre and learning facility which showcases the built heritage of Macau providing users with a hands-on experience in research and understanding of local vernacular techniques whilst providing the opportunity to restore and re-purpose Macau’s vernacular heritage. IHI will open dialogue between multi-disciplinary parties to not only restore Macau’s hidden artefacts, but to restore their collective memory to the front line of urban discourse in Macau.
