Collaborative action research in the garden of Santa Clara-a-Nova in Coimbra
Submitted: 2024-11-20
|Accepted: 2025-04-04
|Published: 2025-04-30
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Keywords:
collaborative action research, heritage, garden, landscape, recovery
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Abstract:
This article proposes a means of intervention in which collaborative practices and research form a basic strategy for the recovery of underutilised heritage spaces. The text examines collaborative action research as a methodological process for the recovery of the abandoned garden of the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova in Coimbra, and its inclusion in the city network of parks and gardens. This intervention is the result of an action carried out in situ, in keeping with the “Take Part” and “Experiments in Environment” initiatives featured in the architect Lawrence Halprin’s collaborative workshops for the regeneration of urban settings in the 1960s and 70s. The action in the monastery garden presents the novel application of shared research principles in a heritage context, combining the interests of users with the exploration of environmental, architectural, and landscape values of this 17th-century complex as a means to learn about reality. The result is a participatory design model on the pre-existing elements and values of the place as a central axis for the recovery of the garden in contrast with traditional park designs and the planning of green areas in the city.
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