DESTRINCO (Oitoo)

DESTRINCO is a temporary activation project for abandoned or inaccessible urban areas, aiming to integrate them into the city’s network of paths and flows, making use of their specific characteristics and transforming them into spaces for public use.

In its first edition, held during the last two weeks of October 2022, DESTRINCO opened the Alameda of the former Monte Pedral Barracks in Porto to the public, creating an unexpected — and useful — shortcut between two opposite streets. Over nine days, it reanimated this dormant citadel, encouraging pedestrians and cyclists from the neighbourhood to reclaim its empty streets. The former Military Alameda became a new public space in an area of Porto lacking squares and gardens.

DESTRINCO emerged from the desire to create meeting places that strengthen connections among local residents and invite outdoor social activities, simply by opening long-sealed gates. The project began with a series of questions: Where is the nearest public space? How long does it take to get there? Why do so few people walk these streets? What changes if we open the gates? These questions led to a systematic study of the surrounding urban life and an analysis of the existing public space. The survey is carried out before and during DESTRINCO, based on observations and data collection — counts, street surveys — conducted with the support of 5th-year students from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto.

DESTRINCO seeks to shift perspectives, enabling citizens to reclaim their city by creating more open spaces for leisure and social interaction. It serves as a tool that fosters an inclusive and effective dialogue with residents and local communities.

For more than a century, Monte Pedral has stood as a vast, impenetrable fortress in the centre of Porto. Today, it finds itself in a moment of transition — suspended between decades of abandonment and its future transformation. This makes it the ideal moment to open the former Barracks, with its quiet tree-lined streets and elegant yet functionless buildings, to the residents of the surrounding neighbourhood and the wider city.