O ato. Experiência do real - ilhas

Abstract

In this dissertation, we develop a continuous experience about the constructions of the anonymous, which leads to an approach to fragile architectures in a dimension that is both human and tactile. These architectures without architects are important to us, not as nostalgic ideas from the past, but rather as a way of refecting about men´s universal problems. Thinking about the past, the present and the future, the simplicity and lightness of these constructions create the opportunity to escape rigid meanings, giving a sense of a more tactile experience. Drawn like a constellation of questions that arise from these anonymous 'anxieties and concerns, we recognize in these territories, far from contamination, an opportunity to see, and later enunciate. The islands materialize as one of those isolated territories where one can fnd these fragile, spontaneous and man-made architectures. When we mention fragile, we speak of elements, materials, systems and events that are symbols of a people´s culture and identity. Through a previous recognition of a particular Island (Madeira Island), we were able to identify similarities with other 'Islands' (in the city of Porto). From the insular condition that the term island entails, there is a fragile in both situations, that is simultaneously vernacular, primitive and popular. Starting from that fragile side, that is progressively disappearing and devaluating, the revival of those ways of doing wants to be a manifesto of architecture as a background for a freedom of events. In this sense, the 'Islands' of Porto are identifed as potential 'materials', provocative manifestations of that doing, that is inherent to the architect. Starting from a fragment of the city of Porto, which we named operational unit, we were able to get closer to a series of 'islands' in which the 'Island' of the Grandparents is situated. Inserted in a progressively abandoned territory, there is a need to create a development project, based on urban requalifcation, that aims to valorize the territory, the architecture and the inhabitants. We believe that the wake-up gesture proposed in this space can provoke and develop other conditions that contribute to the improvement of the quality of life in this territory, with repercussions in other territories. It was precisely in this act of doing and drawing that we found the mediation point between theory and practice. Based on this 'ideology', we chose to build a practical case, exploring the idea of an architecture laboratory. In this place, as with architectures without architects, there is a space to test, rehearse, (re) draw and conjecture an open system, in order to (re) invent the city.