The thickness of the ground: four micro-stories on the project of the open urban ground floor in São Paulo from 1892 until nowadays

Abstract

The research is framed thematically in the field of urban open space design in the contemporary city, mainly dealing with the system of urban voids. The hypothesis from which the search starts is that it is in the thickness of the ground of the city that architecture, as a spatial configuration, can operate in a more effective and incisive way to the city project. Consequently we also want to investigate the possibility of related project devices. In order to do that, we take São Paulo as the field of enquiry, because the two meanings associated to the expression "the thickness of the ground" are particularly relevant in this city.