Urban Morphology and Tall Building: contextual analysis and simulation in Porto Alegre

Abstract

The way skyscrapers are implemented in the urban form is essential to mitigate their impacts on the city's landscape and on the observer's perception in order to avoid the lack of relationship with existing buildings. This article proposes a volumetric simulation of a skyscraper in the city of Porto Alegre, addressing the contextual issue - a concept presented by the Council on Tall Building and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) that involves the morphology of skyscrapers in the 21st century. The analysis of the simulation, based on the history of the verticalization of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, allows the examination of two distinct periods: morphology established by envelope/scaling laws and the morphology derived from Urban Plan rules, current period. The article starts from Abreu Filho's study on “Vertigem das Alturas”, in which the relationships between height and land use of the simulated object are evaluated, in criticism of the Urban Plans of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul. The work makes it possible to explain, from an implementation model of tall building projects, aspects of conformation to the pre-existing context.