The talk by Andreia Garcia and Space Transcribers, taking place on October 9, at 6.30pm, is the first one in the fall lecture series by Planet B UMPRUM. Garcia, curator of the Portuguese pavilion at the current architectural biennale in Venice, joint by the design collective Space Transcribers, will walk us through the exhibition titled Fertile Futures. It presents a collection of seven Portuguese case studies that advocate "the pertinence of architecture's role in designing a collaborative, decarbonised, and decolonised future". In this case, the focus is on finite freshwater resources.
ABSTRACTS
Andreia Garcia on the Fertile Futures exhibition
A vital element for human and non-human species, as well as a metaphorical and emotional element, fresh water is simultaneously political and economic. Therefore, it is urgent to have a public discussion about the protection, management, and future of this natural resource. These are global issues with dramatic manifestations in different areas of the Portuguese territory. Focusing on seven distinct hydrogeographies, Fertile Futures commissions young architects, in collaboration with experts from other areas of knowledge, to present propositional models for a more sustainable tomorrow.
Space Transcribers on their case study Reconcile Water Commons
The construction of one of the largest hydro-power systems in Europe, known as Gigabateria, in the Tâmega river basin of Portugal has brought significant transformations to this region, highlighting the contrast between two modes of managing water. The first is water used as a resource and local common good via minor water architectures, like water canals and tanks for agricultural irrigation and home consumption. The second is water explored as a capital commodity to generate electrical power through massive private infrastructures, like the Gigabateria, currently managed by Iberdrola company. But how can architecture reimagine a future that reconciles these two water management modes in the Tâmega region? Our proposal builds upon a hydro-methodology that combined immersive research with a performative play tour as architectural tools to reimagine a different future for Tamega's basin. One where the concept of water commons is critically played and re-evaluated.
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ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Andreia Garcia
Andreia Garcia is a PhD architect, curator and researcher. Her interests focus on the contemporary practice of architecture in an era marked by strong technological advances and a progressive ecological crisis. She has been a professor at the School of Architecture at the University of Minho and at the Architectural Association. She is a professor and vice-president of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Beira Interior. She is the founder of the Architectural Affairs studio, the Architecture Gallery and curator of the Portuguese representation at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia 2023.
Space Transcribers
Space Transcribers is a non-profit architectural research organisation based in Braga, Portugal, led by architects Daniel Duarte Pereira and Fernando P. Ferreira. It explores new ways of investigating and reimagining the built environment which blur the boundaries between art and architecture. Their practice is immersive, collaborative and site-specific, and they have been exploring critical spatial practices as architectural methodologies to mediate, represent and perform dialogues and narratives that provide new socio-political readings of places. In 2023, Space Transcribers participated in the project Fertile Futures, the Portuguese representation at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale. (
www.spacetranscribers.com)
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DATE: October 9, 2023, at 6.30pm
ACCESS EVENT HERE: https://cesnet.zoom.us/j/5973922832
