English
Salcette Communities Administration
Madgaon [Margão], Goa, India
Equipment and Infrastructures
Located on the east side of the Municipal Garden next to the City Council, the Salcette Communities Building was built in 1960. The designer was Portuguese, probably an employee of the Overseas Direct-orate-General posted in Goa, as the project will have been followed by Joaquim Sebastião Pinto, a Goa Public Works employee. The V-shaped building is located where several roads meet and develops symmetrically vis-à-vis the main entrance axis. This form resolves relations between the building and the surrounding space: via the entrance in the centre of the building one faces the City Council, while the west façade defines the respective street and the inflection of the south volume allows the Municipal Garden space to open to the market area. In back is a garden that defines the lot, but the construction does not establish any direct relations with the surrounding space. Ventilation and the construction’s adjustment to climate were central concerns in the design. On both floors the rooms have the possibility of opening entirely to the outside to ensure ventilation, benefiting from the solar protection offered by the verandas. On the first floor the north side’s body only has one large room, while on the south side it has two, with the space divided lengthwise. It is not known if that division was made at a later date. Above the entrance is a ceramic panel with a scene from daily life, as often done in Portugal in period buildings and which can be seen in two contemporary Goan constructions: the Mapusa Market and the People’s House in Taleigao. It was not possible to confirm the designer, though oral testimony refers to a common author for the three buildings’ panels: the ceramicist Cuncoliencar of Bicholim. The rest of the entrance area wall surface is marked by a grille which ventilates the building and protects it from the sun. The building has a modern, though official and monumental language, clearly distinguishing it as a state-related building. Its image can be identified with the Estado Novo architecture then done in Portugal– one of the few examples existing in Goan territory. Overall, it does not seem to have been subject to modifications.