Monument to 300 Years Park
APARECIDA – SÃO PAULO
Urban and tourist park
The Aparecida City Hall, a city known as the capital of the Catholic faith in Brazil, in the context of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the encounter of the image of Our Lady in the waters of the Paraíba River in 1717, seeks to create a new tourist attraction for the city – the 300 Years Municipal Park .
Located in the Paraíba Valley, the city of Aparecida is in a region rich in natural and cultural attractions, with consolidated and diversified tourism. Among the existing circuits and routes that involve Aparecida, the Caminho da Fé (Faith´s Road) stands out, which passes through several cities in the interior of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, created to give structure to those who make a pilgrimage to the National Sanctuary, located in the city.
The project aims to carry out the technical modeling related to the concession of the park, to provide subsidies for the construction, maintenance, and operation of the equipment. The study involves the development of a Future Vision for the park, covering the planning of the uses and attractions of the place. The document understands its relevance as a municipal park that offers leisure and contemplation opportunities for local inhabitants, as well as nurturing its vocation for religious tourism. As a premise of the client, the new park should house a monument in honor of Our Lady, forming a new option of visitation associated with the Saint, with the potential to attract people of different profiles and beliefs.
The project’s implantation site is on a hill with a difference of approximately 60 meters, but with easy access and visible from the main access roads to the municipality.
Aparecida’s economy is based mainly on tourist activity, which in turn is predominantly related to religious themes. The diagnosis made throughout the study allows us to observe the deficiency of a specific urban planning, aimed at meeting other areas and needs of the population. It is observed, for example, that there are few public spaces for leisure and contemplation aimed at the local population.
The implementation of the park aims not only to consolidate a complementary and unique tourist attraction in the city, but also to offer a space for leisure, contemplation and recreation aimed at the residents of the municipality and region.
The usage program was organized into three groups. The Welcome Center has a reception and ticket office, parking, an exhibition area, and support services. The Religious Circuit includes the 300-year-old staircase, exhibition rooms, viewpoint, amphitheater, support services and the monument square. The Living and Contemplation Center, on the other hand, receives the functions of an urban park, connected with the urban fabric, and implemented in the lower part of the park, with leisure equipment, a hiking trail, children’s playground and spaces for contemplation. This last nucleus can be accessed independently of the attractions that require box office charges.
The challenge to overcome more than 45 meters of unevenness between the Reception Center Monument Square instigates the creation of a circuit of immersion and contemplation. The 300 years old staircase is formed as a vertical circulation integrated into the landscape of the hill, embedded in the ground. Twelve Exhibition Rooms streamline the route and offer stops and reflection. The funicular contributes to the contemplation of the surrounding landscape, while allowing to overcome the gap in an accessible way, allowing visitation to all.
The implantation of the Visitors Center (CV) also faces the challenge of the area with steep slope and erosion in an advanced process. The creation of plateaus on the ground forms a generous arrival square, where the CV and support services for the visitor are located. The project integrates the building as part of the existing topography.
