Portfolio keywords 2016

about me...

Amรกlia Souto de Miranda LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

I decided to tell my story through images, and text about places I’ve been to, places that shaped me and made me think. Keywords that define my career, my path, my work and approach to landscape architecture, myself...

AVEIRO LANDSCAPE PORTO QUERCUS SUBER NETHERLANDS BICYCLES BERLIN PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

ZURICH MODEL SWITZERLAND RESEARCH

ZURICH PUBLIC SPACE

ISTANBUL LOOK IN - LOOK OUT SOUTH AMERICA SCALE SCOTLAND TIME

AVEIRO LANDSCAPE I was born in Aveiro, a beautifull city in the coast of Portugal. Here the atlantic ocean comes in through an opening that was man made, creating a lagoon. Which was good for the people because the stopped water was causing damage. The geography and natural resources made it possible since early age for this people to explore it and therefore contribute to the way it is shaped today.

Man in consonance with nature shaped this amazing ecossistem creating salt marshes, draining mudflats and dredging channels of small size, enabling navigation. Contributing this way for the amazing biodiversity and beauty of this wetland.

I grew up in this Man made landscape of horizon, salt and wind.

PORTO QUERCUS SUBER Since early age I used to go to landscapes and parks as my mother is a botanist and I would go with her to work sometimes.

Later on, and I suppose this influenced me, I did the bachelor and master of Landscape Architecture where studying botany was one of my passions.

Quercus suber, the cork oak is my favourite tree, one of the main species in Portugal. Besides its beauty i tis amazing how people use its cork. The ecossistem of cork production – montado landscapes in Portugal – are a great example of people using natural resources and being an important piece in the balance of this great ecossistem. The relation between Man and nature producing a landscape.

NETHERLANDS BICYCLES I did erasmus for one year in the Netherlands. They say ‘’god created the world but the dutch created the Netherlands’’. The land is flat and the horizon is a clear line.

Dykes and agriculture, bicycle lanes, everthything seems to be designed, we might say the dutch created their country indeed.

I tis impressive the use of the bicycle and how its planned in both city and coutry.

I ride a bicycle everytime I can since then.

BERLIM PUBLIC PARTICIPATION I was in Berlin for three months, doing an internship in landscape architecture and studying german. Berlin is a thrilling city. There one sees how people, the citizens, make the city. There I felt the participation of the public and weight it can have on a city.

Because there is a movement, a party, a performance, a market, a simple meeting popping on every corner, and this makes the atmosphere of the city and nobody can remain indifferent.

ZURICH PUBLIC SPACE I have a deep interest in public space. It is amazing how people approach it and how they ‘unwittingly’ come together and enjoy themselves.

I worked in Switzerland in the Office VOGT, in Zurich for a year and three months. It is not because it has been in so many ranks but for my personal experience that I say Zurich is a city that works. Not only but a lot due to its public spaces. There is quality of life, is also in the tops of my rank.

ZURICH MODEL At VOGT I worked on the proposal for the Kurt Hackenbergplatz, a square in the center of Cologne, Germany. This project raised many discussions on how people approach public space and our role in designing this spaces.

In the process we used the model as a design tool and this was a very important process where I could see the different design options being tested, allowing to conduct excellent discussions and exchange of ideas. In VOGT this method is used a lot and I will for sure use it in my practice.

I did my thesis about design and representation using the Case Study of the experience at VOGT landscape architects.

ISTANBUL LOOK IN - LOOK OUT Istanbul is a wonderfull city with a vibrant life and an amazing culture.

Facing the sea of Marmara and splitted by the Bosphorus, by Asia and Europe.

There I stayed in the Asian side so I crossed everyday by boat from Asia to Europe to visit. This short trips made me understand better this territory and how its condition has shaped it. From land to sea to land you are always looking in and looking out. You always have this excitment of seeing all the minaretes from the boat and then arrive there and see how the river meets the city.

From the boat one sees incredible sunsets with Istanbul silhouette always on the horizon.

SWITZERLAND RESEARCH Research is part of every process. Part of the life of a curious person.

At VOGT, in Switzerland the landscape projects always start with an enthusiastic process of research. It makes all sense to know a place deeply before intervening on it.

As a very curious person, with thirst for knowledge I love the research process and think that design makes sense upon such a process. It is all about questioning and finding/creating answers.

SOUTH AMERICA SCALE Driving hours and hours throught South AmĂŠrica, from the highest cities to the coastal areas. Then I understood a bit better the size of the world, the meaning of boundaries and altitude and geography.

From a city square in Cuzco to the genious Inca cities in the mountains or even lost in the Uyuni salt desert, where everything that meets the eye is covered in white and there seems to be nothing else. Traveling I felt the different scales. Scale is important for the landscape architect as we work with many different scales but the most challenging is probably the scale of time.

SCOTLAND TIME The scale of time is very important for landscape architects because what we develop is most of the time just the begining of a process that requires time. We are also appropriating time when we are inspired by the past of something or we kind of challenge time when we buy old trees for a project, for example.

Time is a broad scale. What can be seen through geography. In Scotland, in the Isle of Skye all the people get amused by the scenery, the landscape and vegetation and most of this ‘design’ is due to processes that occured millions of years ago like the ice ages. There I could travel in time...

P. +351911164331 E. amaliamiranda@outlook.com A. Rua do Loureiro nยบ14, 3810-127 Aveiro, Portugal