The exhibition proposes the revitalization of a historic building in Porto Alegre, the former Santo Antônio Children's Hospital
Submitted at Aug 26, 2019, 12:51 PM
Forty minutes after the agreed time, Dr. Eduardo Lucchese's car appears at the entrance to the parking lot of the imposing building located on the block between Ceará, Maranhão, Paraná and Ernesto da Fontoura avenues, in the 4th District of Porto Alegre. "We had a surgery emergency and I needed to get everything ready so we could talk calmly”, apologizes the current director of the Hospital São Francisco da Santa Casa de Misericórdia. Still in the parking lot, when crossing paths with the director of CASACOR Rio Grande do Sul , Valdecir Santos, who is A friend for years, Lucchese soon asks about the progress of the work and does not hide his admiration for the movement of the hundreds of professionals working on the revitalization of the building. Unused since 2002, the building housed the Santo Antônio pediatric hospital for 49 years, which later was incorporated into the Santa Casa Complex. Now, the building takes on a new meaning as it is transformed to host the exhibition. 
For three years, the hospital's rooms, operating rooms and corridors were practically the doctor's home. Without taking his eyes off the building, he remembers every detail of his journey in that space. “I first came here when I was a child, but not as a patient. I always accompanied my grandmother, who brought her grandchildren every week to attend mass in the chapel,” says the renowned cardiovascular surgeon. At that time, he had no idea that he would returning years later as a medical student and, soon after, with the mission of transforming the institution into a center for highly complex surgeries. “This hospital was essential for the capital and for the cities in the interior, as it was strategically built at the entrance to Porto Alegre, facilitating all access. It began as a medical and outpatient center that treated only infections, but soon began to meet more demands becoming a reference pediatric center in Rio Grande do Sul.” 
During the years he worked at the old Santo Antônio, Lucchese estimates that he performed around 100 surgeries. In contrast, he compares this to the 430 performed in 2018 alone at the new hospital that was opened in 2002, leading to the closure of activities at the 4th District complex. The measure is relative to the time. Over the years, the updating of processes, the expansion and maintenance of the building were decisive factors in the choice between selling the building and building a more modern one or revitalizing the old one. In the account, attaching a new building to the existing hospital on Av. Independência, had a more positive balance. Still impressed by the changes proposed by the exhibition, Lucchese recalls his first return to the site, at the invitation of the CASACOR RS board and before the start of the works at the beginning of the year. “I walked alone through the corridors trying to identify each space and I realized who did not know all the environments”. With his busy schedule, the surgeon confesses that he never managed to go to the cafeteria, for example. His busy routine limited his time between the surgical block and the ICU. In fact, these are spaces that he quickly identified despite the deterioration before the renovation. “It is It’s exciting to relive everything in just a few minutes. Here I experienced moments of great tension, learning and also achievement. I’m sure that a large part of the community will have the same feeling when entering the place”, he says about the historic building that received thousands of patients while active and is now ready to delight thousands of design and architecture fans. abandoned district Karina Capaverde did not count the number of times she passed in front of the old Santo Antônio Children's Hospital and considered the possibility of occupying the space with CASACOR RS. “There were many times and for many years”, emphasizes the director of the Rio Grande do Sul franchise of the exhibition. Despite believing in the potential of the space, she understood that bureaucratic issues could make access to the project difficult. The scenario has changed in the last year. During another visit to the neighborhood, he discovered that the building now belongs to the construction company R. Correa Engenharia and decided to invest in revitalizing the project. The company, which plans to build a complex in the coming years, multipurpose, with commercial spaces and apartments on site, bought the idea. The proposal is part of a plan to revitalize the entire area surrounding the building. Over the decades, the subject has repeatedly appeared in discussions about city planning, in academia, in real estate speculation, and among residents or those interested in historical heritage. 
Porto Alegre councilman Valter Nagelstein is one of the region's greatest enthusiasts. In 2015, as the capital's Secretary of Urban Planning, he used the 22@ Barcelona project in Spain as a reference for the development plan for the 4th District of Porto Alegre. which includes part of the neighborhoods of Floresta, Navegantes, Humaitá, Farrapos and São Geraldo. The smart city model that attracted 4,500 companies, such as Microsoft, Groupalia, Capgemini, Schneider Electric, Indra, Cisco and several startups also began in an area similar to the 4th District, which has lost its industrial vocation, but has great potential urban planning and entrepreneurship and innovation. “We embarked with a delegation of representatives from the city hall, Municipal Chamber and businesspeople from the information technology, health, education and research and civil construction sectors to visit the Spanish innovation circuit and confirmed the vocation of the Rio Grande do Sul region”, he says. The second step was to start the masterplan, together with a team of experts from UFRGS. At the time, around 700 thousand reais were invested in the feasibility study, but the proposal has not yet come to fruition. The main idea is to attract corporate investment to the region. Last year, the mayor of Porto Alegre, Nelson Marchezan, Nagelstein and municipal secretaries received businesspeople and representatives of professional associations at the City Hall to explain the project, but with a focus on another plan, a buzines plan. “We need to return to the initial proposal, which is to create professional complexes for the medical sector and the creative industry, in addition to constructing buildings that provide a mix of residences that bring life to the neighborhood,” says the politician. According to him, initiatives such as CASACOR RS within the old Santo Antônio are extremely important, as they stimulate the economy and recycle the use of the entire surrounding area. “But they are not enough to rebuild such a large area.” Little by little, small businesses are changing this scenario. One example is District C, which brings together dozens of entrepreneurs and artists who are helping to transform the neighborhood into a hub of the creative economy. Galpão Makers, a community made up of several local entrepreneurs who share a pavilion equipped with several machines for wood and metal work, the Distrito Brewpub, which opens its doors weekly to brewers interested in collaborative production and 4Beer, another reference in the segment. In addition, the neighborhood has establishments focused on entertainment such as the Agulha bar, Audio Porto and the Vila Flores collaborative complex. “The neighborhood has proven potential. There are around 1,500 buildings listed as historical heritage. However, it is necessary to eliminate the enormous bureaucracy so that more initiatives can be successful. The government needs to pay more attention to this side of the city,” adds Nagelstein. . 
Renewal Architecture and design come together with the history and culture of Porto Alegre 
