Our Land Is the Sea. The sensitive construction of the coastline
05/03/2020.
Garagem Sul / Centro Cultural de Belém [Lisbon] Portugal 10.03 > 9.08.2020
metalocus, JOAN MARSET
metalocus, JOAN MARSET
Garagem Sul at Centro Cultural de Belém – the Lisbon gallery dedicated to architecture – will open the exhibition Our Land Is the Sea – The sensitive construction of the coastline on 10 March. The show is an invitation to reverse our usual point of view and think about land from the perspective of the sea. What can we learn from this shift in perspective?
Curated by André Tavares and Miguel Figueira, the exhibition will present the topics through films, architectural models, archival drawings, historical books, photographs, infographics, boat miniatures, and video installations.
Our Land Is the Sea runs until 9 August, and will include an extensive public programme to enhance the discussion on this subject.
Curated by André Tavares and Miguel Figueira, the exhibition will present the topics through films, architectural models, archival drawings, historical books, photographs, infographics, boat miniatures, and video installations.
Our Land Is the Sea runs until 9 August, and will include an extensive public programme to enhance the discussion on this subject.
Pedro Bandeira, Lifeguard lookout, Emder Hafen, illustrations of the “Sea of Sand” proposal to Figueira da Foz, 2011
Surfing and the city, Figueira da Foz, Gliding Barnacles, 2016. Photograph by José Pedro Alvarez
![Ernesto Veiga de Oliveira and Fernando Galhano, boat and house, from the book Palheiros do Litoral Central Português [Palheiros of the Portuguese Central Coast], 1964](https://www.metalocus.es/sites/default/files/styles/mopis_news_carousel_item_desktop/public/metalocus_our-land-is-the-sea._the-sensitive-construction-of-the_coastline_02-a-barco-e-casa_boat-and-house.jpg?itok=lUMLaAfZ "Ernesto Veiga de Oliveira and Fernando Galhano, boat and house, from the book Palheiros do Litoral Central Português [Palheiros of the Portuguese Central Coast], 1964")
Ernesto Veiga de Oliveira and Fernando Galhano, boat and house, from the book Palheiros do Litoral Central Português [Palheiros of the Portuguese Central Coast], 1964
Alberto Cruz, Figueira da Foz, 1950. Municipal Photographic Archive of Figueira da Foz
![Nunes Fernandes, surfboard construction at Figueira da Foz beach, in Trabalhos Manuais [Handicrafts], 29 May 1942](https://www.metalocus.es/sites/default/files/styles/mopis_news_carousel_item_desktop/public/metalocus_our-land-is-the-sea._the-sensitive-construction-of-the_coastline_a_cruz_figueira-da-foz_1950_afmff.jpg?itok=7_8exyXT "Nunes Fernandes, surfboard construction at Figueira da Foz beach, in Trabalhos Manuais [Handicrafts], 29 May 1942")
Nunes Fernandes, surfboard construction at Figueira da Foz beach, in Trabalhos Manuais [Handicrafts], 29 May 1942
Pedro Bandeira, Wind Lift I, Emder Hafen, illustrations of the “Sea of Sand” proposal to Figueira da Foz, 2011
“This architecture exhibition does not present beautiful buildings but shows how architecture helps us understand that the sea is a place we all inhabit.”
André Tavares, co-curator
We are faced with an environmental emergency and the sea is a location where the fundamental forces of change are played out.
The sea determines how we live on land. Faced with this fact, a group of architects has developed an original perspective on the sea; deducing from its natural dynamics the coordinates to understand – among other critical aspects to everyday life – coastal erosion, the relationship between cities and the sea, port trade flows, the sea as a global communications route, and the infrastructures that exploit marine resources.
The exhibition Our Land Is the Sea invites us to shift our usual point of view, and think about land from the perspective of the sea. What can we learn from this perspective, which, instead of contemplating the horizon, examines the relationships between natural forces, human activities, and the functioning of ecosystems?
This exhibition highlights the need to better understand the spaces in which we live and to adjust the ways in which we transform them. Inverting our perspective requires us to think about what we build in relation to one of the planet’s critical spaces: the sea.
Exhibition content
The exhibition is organised in several sections: Sensitive Line, Sand, Rock, City, High, Shore, Legislation and Surf. The examples are concentrated, mainly but not exclusively, on the Portuguese coast.
A set of fifteen films is presented that highlights the dynamic relationship between human activity and maritime flows. In parallel with this video installation, the exhibition rooms showcase projects for dune and port constructions, connecting them to natural phenomena ranging from coastal geomorphology to the Azores Peak.
This underlines the relationships between two types of coastline – sand and rock – and the shape of the waves that the combination of these dynamics produces; as well as our different ways of negotiating the water (inshore and high-sea navigation) and of building the territory associated with each of these modalities.
These observations converge in a synthesis – city – that is presented in two project proposals for the coastal city of Figueira da Foz. These projects reveal how architectural thinking is fundamental to determine and transform the relationship between the city and the sea.
These proposals and the legal protection of the most unique waves in Portugal (the longest, the highest and the most tubular) are examples of the need for citizen participation in configuring the spaces in which we live.
The exhibition concludes with an observation of the cultural proximity between traditional xávega fishing and surfing, highlighting the direct relationship between humanity and the sea. The way in which we deal with the ocean swells and waves influences how we build our homes and the spaces in which we live.
![Ernesto Veiga de Oliveira and Fernando Galhano, boat and house, from the book Palheiros do Litoral Central Português [Palheiros of the Portuguese Central Coast], 1964](https://www.metalocus.es/sites/default/files/styles/mopis_news_gallery_deskop/public/metalocus_our-land-is-the-sea._the-sensitive-construction-of-the_coastline_02-a-barco-e-casa_boat-and-house.jpg?itok=ItupQFwG "Ernesto Veiga de Oliveira and Fernando Galhano, boat and house, from the book Palheiros do Litoral Central Português [Palheiros of the Portuguese Central Coast], 1964")
![Nunes Fernandes, surfboard construction at Figueira da Foz beach, in Trabalhos Manuais [Handicrafts], 29 May 1942](https://www.metalocus.es/sites/default/files/styles/mopis_news_gallery_deskop/public/metalocus_our-land-is-the-sea._the-sensitive-construction-of-the_coastline_a_cruz_figueira-da-foz_1950_afmff.jpg?itok=A3vb0FUK "Nunes Fernandes, surfboard construction at Figueira da Foz beach, in Trabalhos Manuais [Handicrafts], 29 May 1942")
More information
Curator
André Tavares and Miguel Figueira
The curatorial team
The exhibition is curated by the architects Miguel Figueira, the architect of interventions in the urban space of Montemor-o-Velho and of the High Performance Centre there, and André Tavares, a programmer at Garagem Sul / Centro Cultural de Belém and a researcher at Lab2PT in the School of Architecture at the University of Minho.
The exhibition is the result of collective efforts that included the participation of architect Pedro Maurício Borges, of the design studio Change is good (José Albergaria & Rik Bas Backer), architects Marta Labastida, Ivo Poças Martins and Pedro Bandeira, and surfer Eurico Gonçalves and producer Carla Cardoso.
In addition to several partner institutions, Aitor Ochoa Argany, Daniel Duarte Pereira and Diego Inglez de Souza collaborated in the preparation of the exhibition within the research group “Fishing Architecture” at Lab2PT, part of the School of Architecture at the University of Minho.
The exhibition is the result of collective efforts that included the participation of architect Pedro Maurício Borges, of the design studio Change is good (José Albergaria & Rik Bas Backer), architects Marta Labastida, Ivo Poças Martins and Pedro Bandeira, and surfer Eurico Gonçalves and producer Carla Cardoso.
In addition to several partner institutions, Aitor Ochoa Argany, Daniel Duarte Pereira and Diego Inglez de Souza collaborated in the preparation of the exhibition within the research group “Fishing Architecture” at Lab2PT, part of the School of Architecture at the University of Minho.
Support
The production of this exhibition was made possible by the generous support of Samsung, Valchromat and Arquivo Municipal de Lisboa. The exhibition is partnered with the following institutions: Arquivo Histórico Militar, Arquivo Histórico da Marinha, Arquivo Municipal da Figueira da Foz, Arquivo Fotográfico Municipal da Figueira da Foz, Centro Português de Fotografia, Direção-Geral do Território, Gabinete de Estudos Arqueológicos da Engenharia Militar, Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas, Museu de Marinha, Museu Marítimo de Ílhavo and The Navigator. --- La producción de esta exposición fue posible gracias al generoso apoyo de Samsung, Valchromat y Arquivo Municipal de Lisboa. La exposición está asociada con las siguientes instituciones: Arquivo Histórico Militar, Arquivo Histórico da Marinha, Arquivo Municipal da Figueira da Foz, Arquivo Fotográfico Municipal da Figueira da Foz, Centro Português de Fotografia, Direção-Geral do Território, Gabinete de Estudos Arqueológicos da Engenharia Militar, Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas, Museu de Marinha, Museu Marítimo de Ílhavo y The Navigator.
Dates
10 March to 9 August 2020.
Venue / Adress
Garagem Sul . Centro Cultural de Belém. Praça do Império, 1449-003 Lisbon, Portugal.
André TAVARES
André Tavares (Porto, 1976) is an architect, researcher at the School of Architecture at the University of Minho, and programmer of architecture at Garagem Sul in the Centro Cultural de Belém. He has been running Dafne Editora since 2006, exploring publishing as a form of cultural and architectural practice. and was director of the journal Arquitectos between 2013 and 2015 and general curator, with Diogo Seixas Lopes, of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2016, The Form of Form. He is the author of several books, including The Anatomy of the Architectural Book (Lars Müller/Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2016).
He holds a doctorate from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto, where in 2009 he completed his dissertation on the presence of reinforced concrete in architects’ design strategies in the early 20th century.
Resulting from his research in Mendrisio, Paris and São Paulo, he has published several books addressing the international circulation of knowledge among Portuguese-speaking architects, including Arquitectura Antituberculose (Faup-publicações, 2005), Os fantasmas de Serralves (Dafne, 2007), Novela Bufa do Ufanismo em Concreto (Dafne, 2009), and Duas obras de Januário Godinho (Dafne, 2012). He co-edited Mark Wigley’s Casa da Música/Porto (CdM, 2008) and Eduardo Souto de Moura’s Floating Images (Lars Müller, 2012).
He holds a doctorate from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto, where in 2009 he completed his dissertation on the presence of reinforced concrete in architects’ design strategies in the early 20th century.
Resulting from his research in Mendrisio, Paris and São Paulo, he has published several books addressing the international circulation of knowledge among Portuguese-speaking architects, including Arquitectura Antituberculose (Faup-publicações, 2005), Os fantasmas de Serralves (Dafne, 2007), Novela Bufa do Ufanismo em Concreto (Dafne, 2009), and Duas obras de Januário Godinho (Dafne, 2012). He co-edited Mark Wigley’s Casa da Música/Porto (CdM, 2008) and Eduardo Souto de Moura’s Floating Images (Lars Müller, 2012).
Miguel Figueira
Miguel Figueira (Coimbra, 1969) is an architect who studied at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Porto. He was responsible for the local technical office in Montemor-o-Velho (1997– 2002) and, until 2014, for urban design in that municipality. Since 2009, he has coordinated the civic movement SOS Cabedelo.
In 2003, he received the Alexandre Herculano National Architecture Prize and, in 2011, his body of work was distinguished with the AICA prize by the International Association of Art Critics. A co-founder of the civic movement SOS Cabedelo, in 2011 he shared the Movimento Milénio Cidade Surf award with Eurico Gonçalves.
In 2003, he received the Alexandre Herculano National Architecture Prize and, in 2011, his body of work was distinguished with the AICA prize by the International Association of Art Critics. A co-founder of the civic movement SOS Cabedelo, in 2011 he shared the Movimento Milénio Cidade Surf award with Eurico Gonçalves.
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