Entre permanência e efemeridade: o tempo na prática de arquitetura

Abstract

This dissertation explores the tension between permanence and ephemerality in architecture, as an influence on the search for the timelessness of the built. Permanence, understood as the building's ability to resist the wear and tear of time, confronts ephemerality, manifested by the social, environmental and cultural changes that continually affect architectural spaces. It is argued that timelessness is not found in a rigid resistance to change, but rather in the ability to integrate this change as an essential part of the design process. To this end, notions of adaptability and flexibility are approached as fundamental pillars in their integration into contemporary architectural practice. Through the theoretical and practical analysis of strategies that allow for the creation of dynamic spaces, the aim is for buildings to be able to adjust to temporal and programmatic transformations. The participation of the Wulf Architekten office in the Interimsstandort Württembergische Staatstheater Stuttgart (IWS) competition is used as a central case study that highlights the practical implications of these approaches. The Wulf project for the IWS seeks to illustrate how architecture can balance the ephemeral and the permanent, providing a temporary solution for Stuttgart's theatre and opera house, and subsequently for other uses, with the potential to evolve over time. The research addresses other relevant notions such as the adaptive reuse of existing buildings and the design of new spaces with flexible and adaptable characteristics. By analysing practical examples such as Lina Bo Bardi's SESC Pompeia and Lacaton & Vassal's Nantes School of Architecture, as well as applying the theories of authors such as Stewart Brand and John Habraken, the study proposes a design approach that incorporates time as an essential dimension in architecture. The central aim is to understand how flexibility and adaptability can be integrated, while creating spaces that adjust to inevitable transformations, with greater durability and functional relevance.