ARQUITETURA SEM ARQUITETOS. (Sobre)viver na cidade da Praia

Abstract

"Pedra ka ta djuga ku garrafa"02, this expression means something to the effect of "you better not bite off more than you can chew"03, and so is she, Praia Maria, the Capital of these 10 islands. Juxtaposing realities, novelty repeating, the like of which has many forms. What makes its urban development unique is the difficulty to discern the informal from the formal, there, experiences intertwine. We mainly treat houses, its builders and the conditions they're built in. Even if there are formal characteristics of a house, a simple trace of informality raises numerous questions - is formality a utopia? From the countless questions that a territory of 102.6 km2 raises, different answers can be sought, even if we take into account that the problems start from the same assumption, which is, to have a house, a shelter, a shed. Space in its many forms, always with Man at its center, as the subject of a seemingly never ending narrative. A working man, a builder man, a community activist man, the many facets of a complex individual, who builds himself up as he builds his home. Above all, a diverse, socially contradictory and often unfair human condition. In large part, the house is a reflection of who inhabits it and, therefore, of their social condition, their world view, their dreams and aspirations, and the only way to perceive these links is through the experiences of the inhabitant. To listen and reconstruct, in the search for traces that illustrate the story of a life. It is indeed impressive, the power of imagination to drive the physical world and make an individual, oftentimes an untrained one, to build a house with their bare hands. Of course, the strength for such an attitude does not come from imagination alone, but it is undoubtedly the root of many other motivators. House ceiling, house wall, house life, hard to understand symbolisms, banal ones even! For many, conquering their imagined house comes from the materials, or in a simple painting, everything has a reason for being, but it is not perceptible to the eyes of those who pass by, only those who know. Opportunities and moments dictate certain events, the better off you are, the better the space you live in, that's the link! The experience of space is sometimes dictated by having light, having water, other times, in a simple curtain as a compartment separator, or also, in the roof plate that lets water in whenever it rains. It is surprising, how the house can be everything, and from one moment to the next become nothing, this is the versatility of space, It does not exist in a vacuum, It is volatile. Private, Public, Public-Private, the house spills itself onto the outside world and is contaminated by it. The evolution of what is around, which dazzles or is a cause for concern, that in one way or another drives/builds a narrative in its surroundings. The house that shelters is a key piece to understand the conditions in which the individual and the community became real. We want to get to the driving forces behind the constructions, even the unnoticed ones, because they make a difference in reading the whole. The journey we propose studies the experiences that go beyond the limits of construction, making the street itself, the neighbourhood, a living part. The understanding of architecture without architects, in different scenarios and dimensions, in the construction of a life, or in the choice of a material, is the goal we set ourselves. Bearing in mind that necessity makes Man, and that from similar needs a sense of community is extracted, driven by a common objective, the house, we try to demystify some preconceived ideas, that maybe have their quota of truth. The problem is that the most rational way of building is for many, nothing more than an illusion. Therefore, it is necessary to stop romanticizing reality and confront it! Recognizing the architecture of the time, drawing where the lines escape us, working with what is and not with what we wish to be true, respect and praise the effort of having a home, because, for many, it is the culmination of a life.