Analysis of the environmental quality of Padre João Maria square in Natal/RN

Abstract

Aiming at improving the designed spaces, the objective is to understand which are the main environmental and urban elements that are part of the environmental quality and the built environment in the public space. In this way, it article is part of the Research “Palimpsest: the redesign of the landscape and the Interventions of the PAC Cidades Historicas in the center of Natal/RN”, which evaluates possible impacts of these interventions in the open public spaces of the Historic Center of Natal/RN. The research was initiated during the SARS-Cov-19 pandemic, which made it difficult to carry out field activities and other initial POE methodological procedures, since the approach focuses on users of the historic squares in Natal/RN. Such difficulties motivated this interdisciplinary experience experienced by students of the Architecture and Urbanism course  and by the research team, composed of professors and scientific initiation scholarship holders. Bibliographical research and instruments adopted in the Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) were adopted as methodological procedures, such as interviews, questionnaire application, as built, timeline and behavioral mapping, based on on-site visits and spatial use. The main result is a survey of the use of the evaluated square, as well as the spatial quality resulting from the proposed and executed requalification work.