(Des)ruralização: (in)definição do conceito de rural.

Abstract

Mankind is currently undergoing a new cycle of revolutionary restructuring in a global scale. We now live in an environment of progress so striking and distinct from previous eras that, under the impulse of the incredible capabilities e means of mobility and relations, deeply and quickly reshaped society's main material basis. The ways of living, being, relating and inhabiting of the various actors and institutions of society are transformed radically by new cultural references, new habits and forms of consumption that firm their place in the production and structure of the territory. The variety and novelty of this restructure is so massive and unpredictable that makes it impossible to comprehend the geographic space and its architecture according to forms, concepts and traditional meanings. The space becomes plain with no borders. Cultures mingle and its interpretation like a sequence of binomial concepts perfectly solidified by its long history loses intelligibility and applicability in the land that increasingly needs to have a continuum and respect for the locality. The issue at hand stems from a personal desire to understand the context of the Portuguese rurality that defies the contemporary architects not only in the blossoming potential but also in the weaknesses to abolish or, at worst, to circumvent. We will analyse the physical support, highlighting changes and ways of occupying the space, transcribing realities, recognizing consequences and readapting old and antagonistic concepts, whose strict limits that are blurred today, are currently seen as a blocking factor, a barrier of the development of postmodern society. Based on the analysis of the Town of Barcel and to an observable evident mismatch between reality and contemporary terminology, namely the concept of "rural" and its popular architecture, we initiated the research on purpose, accuracy and consistency of their use in studies and contemporary architectural and territorial projects by using, when appropriate, a reference to its natural epistemological opponent, the concept of "urban" and its classical architecture. The history of this dichotomy perfectly delineated in other times which is the basis of its existence will be the starting point of this work, requiring in a second term, in order to investigate the productive veracity and employability of its contemporary using, the understanding of a new development paradigm, not only territorial but also architectural, respectful of the dreams and the economy of the community and the individual; these dreams are increasingly more diverse and specific, but also homogeneous in what concerns the global parameters of mobility, accessibility, comfort, well-being, health and safety.