Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: DANIELA PEREIRA DE FREITAS MONTENEGRO

BALCONIES: MIXED USE BUILDING IN NATAL/RN HOUSING QUALITY FOR USER WELL-BEING

Residential architecture, habitability, well-being

This professional master's qualification work consists of the development of the architectural
design of a mixed-use building in Natal/RN, emphasizing the discussion of the architecture of
well-being as a means of qualifying living. This document is composed of a technical report and
the development of the architectural project. As a result of the behavioral changes resulting
from the covid 19 pandemic, especially in the residential environment, it was possible to
perceive a growing interest in horizontal buildings. In Natal and the metropolitan region, it was
possible to identify, through the interpretation of satellite images, the expressive crowding in
horizontal condominiums during the pandemic. In that scenario, social isolation as one of the
most effective practices in combating the spread of the disease led many people to develop
illnesses, such as depression. It is believed that families residing in multifamily buildings were
the most affected, especially due to the spatial limitations that are often characteristic of this
housing model. From the previous reflections, the question is: how should vertical multifamily
projects respond to the space of living, especially in the post-pandemic? The hypothesis is that
multifamily residential projects centered on the well-being of users should respond to the main
demands of today and tomorrow. In this way, the general objective of the work is to develop an
architectural proposal in the form of a preliminary design of a mixed-use building conceived
from the perspective of well-being. To achieve this, we seek to research the main spatial and
behavioral transformations of users in the residential environment during the covid 19
pandemic, study design guidelines based on the concepts of well-being, quality of life and the
person-environment relationship and apply, also in the design process guidelines that can
validate an architecture based on this concept. Methodologically, systematic studies in
dissertations, theses and various articles with related themes were carried out, with the
intention of providing a theoretical-conceptual basis so that, subsequently, the architectural
proposal would be supported technically as well as theoretically. Studies of indirect references
in several projects were carried out, which significantly helped in the programmatic and plastic
definitions of the building under development. Based on the disciplines taken in the referred
program, the design process was being developed and improved, generating interesting
discussions regarding the concept of the project, its architectural approach, the intentional
choice of the land, the studies of urban conditions and prescriptions and, finally, the
development of a satisfactory project proposal. It is expected, with this partial work, to be
meeting the minimum requirements for continuation in this program, so that the development
of the work results in collaborative discussions for those most interested due to the relevant
theme of living with quality.