a r c h i t e c t u r e . p o r t f o l i o
NAME
José Bernardo Martins de Almeida e Silva
DATE OF BIRTH | BIRTH PLACE
May 5th, 1988, Viseu, Portugal
CONTACTS
Cell phone: +351965124260
Email: j_bernardo25@hotmail.com | bernardomda@gmail.com
Address: Rua da Pedreira, 68, Repeses, 3500-687, Viseu
ACADEMIC DEGREE
Master’s Degree in Architecture by the Architecture Department of the Universidade de Coimbra (Departamento de Arquitectura da Faculdade de
Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra) TRAINING FORMATION
Advanced Formation Course in Traditional Techniques of Construction and Conservation of Old Buildings (Técnicas Tradicionais de Construção e a Con-
servação de Edifícios Antigos)
International Workshop on Architecture Project (Workshop Ensinar pelo Projeto)
WORK EXPERIENCE
COLLABORATOR (September 2011/January 2012) - Public Contest for the Redevelopment of the seafront of Figueira da Foz, Portugal (Requalificação e
Reordenamento da Praia e Frente de Mar da Figueira da Foz e Buarcos | Concurso Público de Concepção) – 2 honorable mentions
ARCHITECT - INTERNSHIP - (January 2013/November 2013) - Moreno Arquitectos Associados - Viseu/Portugal
ARCHITECT - INTERNSHIP - (March 2014/October 2014) - Space Caviar - Genoa/Italy
ARCHITECT - INTERNSHIP - (January 2015/ongoing) - AMVC Arquitectos e Associados - Viseu/Portugal
LANGUAGES
Certificate in Avanced English (CAE - International House) - English Language
Level B2 (Centro de Línguas da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra) - Spanish Language
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COMPUTER SKILLS
Mastery:
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
ArchiCAD Artlantis
Autodesk AutoCAD
Microsoft Office
SketchUp V-Ray
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Minimum knowledge:
Adobe Illustrator
Autodesk 3ds Max
Cinema 4D
PRESENTATION For me, Architecture became the obvious choice even before entering high school. I have always loved art, especially drawing, and especially building things. Hence the natural thought of leading myself to designing aesthetically pleasant spaces. The first three years of the course emphasized the approach to private space; projecting residential spaces, whether single family or collective/public housing, and museological spaces, among others, allowed me to think and design at a small scale and for a relatively small amount of people. The last two years were more focused on public space and urban planning. It was perhaps during this time that I realized that, within Architecture, the area of Urbanism came with particular interest. I am fascinated by the city as an organism that gradually grows, and how architecture affects, positively or negatively, the lives of its inhabitants and the environment. On my last year, I decided that my master’s thesis would be centered on Urbanism, and also focusing on Spatial Anthropology and Sociology. I chose the theme “New Urbanism�, a movement that emerged during the second half of the last century, and which advocates a return to traditional urban planning, as well as the support for a more nostalgic-historicist architecture. Refraining from talking about the architectural aspect and focusing on the urban component, I tried to show how this movement can provide a partial solution to the urban exodus to the suburbs in recent years and the eventual abandonment of historical centres, due, in part, to the bad zoning policies of Modernism. Despite my entire academic journey and all the knowledge I acquired at university, my personal life also contributes to the enlargement of my general culture. I am used to travelling frequently, which enriches my perception of the world around me, both in architectural terms or in social terms.
INDEX 6 city museum for coimbra 15 urban hotel for coimbra 26 unproduced bathroom furniture
30 domesti-city 32 neoasterisms 36 fomo 40 99 dom-ino 44 sqm: the home does not exist 45 sqm: the theatre of everyday life 50 sqm: the quantified home 54 sqm: the quantified home - broelschool demolition workshop 58 public contest for the redevelopment of the seafront of figueira da foz 66 “Niú a’banizm (novo urbanismo?): a resposta neo-urbanista à decadência do urbano” [“Niú a’banizm (new urbanism?): the new-urbanist response to the decadence of urban fabric”]
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CITY MUSEUM | Second year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
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Coimbra is a city that is accustomed to large demolitions. During World War II, while Europe was being heavily bombarded and cities were being wiped out, almost the entire uptown of Coimbra (Alta) was destroyed to give way to the new university town. In recent years, the municipality of Coimbra decided to build a new line of streetcars that would connect these two parts of the city. To achieve that, a whole block from the historic downtown (Baixa) was demolished, creating a large open space in an otherwise dense urban fabric which has been empty ever since. Thus, this was the chosen area to place a new museum for the city that would have both permanent and temporary exhibitions, an auditorium, a shop, a cafeteria, and all the required spaces for its proper function. The main idea of the project was to create a building that would serve, not only as an exhibition centre, but also as a station for the streetcars and as volume that would somehow recover the old urban fabric. Consequently, my main concept was to create a large volume that would fill the
CITY MUSEUM | Second year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
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void left by the demolitions. Through several sketches, I came across this almost deconstructivist shape. On one hand, I wanted the building to be imposing and differentiated from its environs, and on the other, I designed it to be attached to the surrounding edifices – like a new alien structure that is connected to the old houses. Beginning in separate parts – two southern parts and one northern half – the volume is united above the streetcar line, creating a uniform mass. The building has entrances through the neighboring streets, including the main one, located on the Moeda street. Although it appears to be a somewhat solid structure from above, the museum grows around three open spaces that are defined as we progress through the floors – one completely closed, surrounded by the administrative area in the ground floor, one that is defined by the first floor on the united southern half, above the reception area, and another one that becomes visible in the upper floor, above the tramline. The reception, administrative area, cafeteria,
CITY MUSEUM | Second year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
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the temporary exposition, museum shop, storage and technical area are located on the two halves of the ground and first floors. The auditorium is located on the first and second floors, and the permanent exhibition occupies almost the entire second floor. This floor has a peculiar plan, with its walls somehow simulating the shape of the museum; this relates to the sinuous streets and alleys of the Baixa. The streetcar station functions as an appendix that articulates the museum main mass with the last building of the Moeda street. It was my intention to deliberately open the opportunity to restore this structure, and although I didn’t include it in the main concept of the whole project, I thought of the museum as a catalyst to the renewal and the regeneration of the Baixa.
CITY MUSEUM | Second year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
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CITY MUSEUM | Second year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
Level 0
1 - Main entrance 2 - Reception 3 - Administration 4 - Toilets 5 - Staff toilets 6 - Museum shop 7 - Warehouse 8 - Temp. exhibitions 9 - Streetcar station 10 - Kiosk
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Level 1
4 - Toilets 8 - Temp. exhibitions 11 - Auditorium 12 - Cafeteria 13 - Kitchen 14 - Archive
CITY MUSEUM | Second year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
Level 2
4 - Toilets 11 - Auditorium 15 - Perm. exhibtion 16 - Workshop 17 - Storage
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Northeast Elevation Northwest Elevation
CITY MUSEUM | Second year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
Southwest Elevation AA’ Section
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BB’ Section CC’ Section
CITY MUSEUM | Second year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
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CITY MUSEUM | Second year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
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URBAN HOTEL | Fourth year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
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Originally there were three areas that we could choose to place our hotel. I chose this one because it’s in the empty centre of a block, which brings us the old question of how to solve to problems related to urban design. It also happens that the empty centre is at the end of a much consolidated street, the Diogo de Castilho. The open area in the end, a so-called Praça (square) Virgílio Castelo, is not even remotely a square; it is a poorly designed space that could have been a small square if the street had been properly finished. Therefore, my main concern was to properly terminate the street, redesign the square and fill the empty centre of the block. The hotel would have to have a spa, a conference room, an indoor or outdoor pool, all the services required to the function of the building (reception, reception support, administrative area, restaurant/bar, kitchen, pantries, storage, technical areas, etc) and about forty rooms, including single bedrooms, double bedrooms and suites. To fit all this content in the short available space I knew the building would have to be several storeys high. Despite this, I wanted the hotel to be about the same
URBAN HOTEL | Fourth year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
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height of the surrounding houses (which are all at the same height). One of the first things I did when I started projecting was to separate the hotel in two volumes. One that would serve as proper terminus for the street and a second one, the hotel itself, located on the side, and opened to a courtyard, facing North (not the most obvious choice, but then again I had to make the most of the short space). The first volume serves as a lobby and basically nothing more; it is a huge foyer that serves as a connection point between the first four floors. The second building articulates all the floors. To open the courtyard at the level of the restaurant, and to maintain the pretended height, I had to bury the floors containing the technical areas, the parking lot, the conference room, the administrative area and the spa. To bring light to the last three areas I opened a second courtyard, at a lower level than the main one. This allowed me, not only to illuminate those areas but also to create a direct pedestrian access to the street below, the Nicolau Chanterenne. The two volumes were designed in a 3,20 meters modular structure. This organized all the areas inside, and served as the main division between the three types of rooms
URBAN HOTEL | Fourth year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
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– the difference between single and double bedrooms is literally a balcony, and a suite occupies two single bedrooms. Finally, I rearranged the surrounding urban space, recreating the open area at the end of Diogo de Castilho street, and transforming it into a proper square. I also designed a staircase and elevator to access the different levels of the Nicolau Chanterenne and Diogo de Castilho streets and regenerated the existing pedestrian way between the later and the António José de Almeida street.
URBAN HOTEL | Fourth year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
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URBAN HOTEL | Fourth year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra Level -3 0 - Parking 1a - Mechanical equipment area 1b - Pool techincal area 2 - Pool 3 - Squash 4 - Spa locker rooms 5 - Sauna 6 - Turkish bath 7 - Storage
19 Level -2 8 - Massage rooms 9 - Gym 10 - Spa reception 11 - Spa reception supporting area 12 - Toilets 13 - Secretariat 14 - Administration office 15 - Meeting room 16 - Loading and unloading 17 - Trash 18 - Changing room 19 - Storage 20 - Warehouse 21 - Laundry 22 - Conference room 23 - Lounge area
URBAN HOTEL | Fourth year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra Level -1 23 - Lounge area 24 - Reception 25 - Toilets 26 - Restaurant 27 - Bar 28 - Kitchen pantry 29 - Kitchen 30 - Lobby
20 Levels 0 | 1 | 2 31 - Double bedrooms 32 - Single bedrooms 33 - Pantry
URBAN HOTEL | Fourth year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra East Elevation South Elevation
21 North Elevation AA’ Section
West Elevation BB’ Section
URBAN HOTEL | Fourth year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra CC’ Section DD’ Section
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URBAN HOTEL | Fourth year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
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URBAN HOTEL | Fourth year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
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URBAN HOTEL | Fourth year | Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra
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UNPRODUCED BATHROOM FURNITURE | Moreno Arquitectos Associados
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CM Square Line | A Bathroom furniture line divided in two modern and minimalist series of sinks and bathtubs: the Glass Series, focusing on transparency, and the Opaque Series, emphasizing elegance and sobriety.
UNPRODUCED BATHROOM FURNITURE | Moreno Arquitectos Associados
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UNPRODUCED BATHROOM FURNITURE | Moreno Arquitectos Associados
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CM Round Line | The hard square design of the previous line gives way to the fluid and sensual Round Line. Here, contemporary design alies itself to the memory of the early 20th Century, resulting in a very alluring set of pieces.
UNPRODUCED BATHROOM FURNITURE | Moreno Arquitectos Associados
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DOMESTI-CITY | Salone del Mobile - Milan | Space Caviar
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Throughout history, plans for an ideal society have often been articulated through the space of the home. Whether borne out of necessity or radical ideology, these projects are a subconscious portrayal of the desires and fears of both their individual authors and the wider social contexts behind them. The cross-section drawings presented in Domesti-city allow for a comparative view of multiple ideal homes, making visible spatial and social implications that may be difficult to read in plan. The new building regulations drafted in the aftermath of the Great Fire of London defined the model of the single-family terraced house, which would become the basic unit of London’s expansion for the following two centuries; the social condensers designed by the Russian constructivists embodied the pursuit of a new, egalitarian society visible in their collective kitchens; the homes designed by American companies in the 1950s were almost manifestos for economic optimism. Thus, domestic interiors are neither neutral, nor innocent. They are the product of a perpetual tension between external forces (econ-
DOMESTI-CITY | Salone del Mobile - Milan | Space Caviar
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mical, political, even microbiological) rarely taken into account by designers. Yet it is at the scale of the interior that the transition between everyday objects and urban questions takes place. In recent decades, domestic space has all but disappeared from the critical agenda—in parallel with its increasing commodification. Hosting a series of discussions with designers, writers, and curators ,Domesti-city has launched the SQM research project that Space Caviar will present at the 2014 Biennale Interieur (17–26 October) in Kortrijk.
NEOASTERISMS | Salone del Mobile - Milan | Space Caviar
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Neoasterisms invites participants from all over the world—either in person or via the web platform wikistars.org—to propose new constellations, submit their own mythologies, and revive lost astronomical traditions that were set aside when the global standard of celestial nomenclature was introduced by the International Astronomical Union in 1922. It is an attempt to question the largely Western-Eurocentric nature of contemporary astronomical standards. Neoasterisms builds a framework for the collaborative inscription of the ideals, fears, and dreams of a new civilisation. If we started from scratch, if we looked at our starscape as a tabula rasa, what new constellations would we draw in 2013—in an era of borderless interaction, the simultaneous diversification and homogenisation of culture, and the proliferation of networks throughout society? What myths from distant cultures would we choose to revive as emblems of our own value system? Which artifacts or figures would we ele-
NEOASTERISMS | Salone del Mobile - Milan | Space Caviar
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vate to mythic status? What marginalised narratives would be unearthed? And how would we find resolution between independent voices in a process of global decision-making?
NEOASTERISMS | Salone del Mobile - Milan | Space Caviar
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NEOASTERISMS | Salone del Mobile - Milan | Space Caviar
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FOMO | Salone del Mobile | Venice Biennale of Architecture | Design Miami/ Basel | Space Caviar
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FOMO is a print magazine generated with a custom made software which gathers social media interactions based on metadata filters by a specific hashtag and/or location. The collected data is arranged in a print-ready PDF according to a predefined design template, then printed, bound and distributed on the spot by the FOMObile, a collapsible mobile publishing platform. Inspired by Bruce Sterling’s statement that “events are the new magazines”, FOMO is an attempt to produce a physical record of the fleeting bodies of physical interactions and electronic debris generated by event culture, while playing on the lurking “fear of missing out” (an inevitable byproduct of the experience economy). The platform filters and makes accessible as a physical record the electronic dust-cloud that surrounds events. The magazine’s production is a performative process that investigates the aesthetic and conceptual implications of the encounter
FOMO | Salone del Mobile | Venice Biennale of Architecture | Design Miami/ Basel | Space Caviar
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between a centuries-old tradition of experimental publishing, the rising influence of machine intelligence in media, and the craving for instant gratification produced by real-time technologies. Variables such as background noise, number of people present, and intensity of social media activity inform the appearance of the final output, creating both moments of density and voids of activity. In Dadaist spirit, it is not so much an experiment in precision documentation as in finding alternative methods of representation and documentation of events. FOMO debuted at Salone del Mobile, Milan, where it stayed from 9-11 of April. It then went to the Swiss Pavilion, at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, for the 5th and 6th of June. It was “reinvented� as a exhibit by itself, as opposed to being simply a complement to talks and discussions, at the Design Miami/ Basel art week, from 16-22 of June.
FOMO | Salone del Mobile | Venice Biennale of Architecture | Design Miami/ Basel | Space Caviar Salone del Mobile Assembling of FOMO
38 Samples of the magazines produced for the talks in Salone del Mobile
FOMO | Salone del Mobile | Venice Biennale of Architecture | Design Miami/ Basel | Space Caviar Design Miami/ Basel FOMO “reinvented�
39 Samples pages of one of the magazines produced during the event
99 DOM-INO | Venice Biennale of Architecture | Space Caviar
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99 Dom-Ino takes the centennial of Le Corbusier’s design as the trigger for a survey of Italian domesticity and the relationship with the landscape over the last 100 years. Throughout history, few inventions have been as transformative of Italy as the concrete frame, to the point that it could be described as an object of collective self-identification in which pride and chagrin overlap. On the one hand, it is the symbol of the wealth generated by a building industry that rebuilt Italy from the rubble of the 2nd World War, as depicted in the opening scenes of De Sica’s 1956 film Il Tetto; on the other, it is the primary instrument of “abusivismo”, or unregulated construction’s assault on the landscape. As such, it is the ultimate symbol of the architect’s extraordinary power—and enduring helplessness.
99 DOM-INO | Venice Biennale of Architecture | Space Caviar
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99 Dom-ino was presented in June 2014 in the Corderie of the Arsenale as part of Monditalia during Fundamentals, the 14th International Architecture Exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia. The designer Alicia Ongay-Perez was commissioned to create a series of concrete moduli inspired by the Maison Dom-ino to accompany the films.
99 DOM-INO | Venice Biennale of Architecture | Space Caviar
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99 DOM-INO | Venice Biennale of Architecture | Space Caviar
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SQM: The Home Does Not Exist | Kortrijk Biennale Interieur | Space Caviar
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SQM: The Home Does Not Exist is an investigation into contemporary domesticity through multiple platforms, commissioned as the cultural programme of the 2014 Biennale Interieur. Through two exhibitions, an original film, and a book, the standard conceptions of life at home are re-examined based on a context of technological saturation, network culture, economic recession, and political appropriation.
SQM: The Theatre Of Everyday Life | Kortrijk Biennale Interieur | Space Caviar
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Biennale Interieur was founded in 1968, at the height of a golden age for domestic interiors—a time when the home was seen by architects as a site worthy of staunch ideological engagement. Perhaps naively, we believed social advancement, like keeping out the rain, was a problem of design. This soon changed. Under pressure from multiple forces—cultural, financial, environmental, technological—the romantic definition of home as a “shelter against heat, cold, rain, thieves, and the inquisitive” gave way to something more complex and ambiguous, at times indistinguishable from the economy itself. Forty years after the first Biennale Interieur opened its doors, the world’s financial system collapsed, crushed under the weight of debts left unpaid by insolvent homeowners. The 2008 economic meltdown was the first global financial crisis born in the living room. The market swallowed the home, then threw it up.
SQM: The Theatre Of Everyday Life | Kortrijk Biennale Interieur | Space Caviar
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London house prices rise by a staggering £4,500 a week! bellow the newspaper headlines six years later. Today domestic space is a form of currency—besides the EUR and the USD, we now have the square meter, or SQM. Such is our obsession with the home as a means of the accumulation of capital we forget it is still architecture, a theatre of everyday life, the place where we still eat, sleep and love. SQM is a research into the condition of this unfamiliar space we affectionately call home—a speculative assemblage of fragments of domesticity present and future in the form of an exhibition, The Theatre of Everyday Life. Our values have changed, and the home as we once knew it no longer exists: this project is an invitation to abandon received ideals of domesticity and observe with new eyes the challenges and opportunities for design in our time, thrilling and unpalatable as they may be.
SQM: The Theatre Of Everyday Life | Kortrijk Biennale Interieur | Space Caviar
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The Theatre of Everyday Life explores contemporary domesticity through historical artefacts, broadcast of contemporary domesticity collected on social media (Home Screen) and original films in an architectural installation along the Rambla at Kortrijk Xpo. It investigates different themes that have shaped domestic life in the post-war era, from the kitchen as a space for political rebellion to the bedroom as a space to be sold, from the home as an engine of financial speculation to a stage set for public broadcast, and more. The exhibition will also include original stories and drawings of 20 significant homes featured in the SQM book.
SQM: The Theatre Of Everyday Life | Kortrijk Biennale Interieur | Space Caviar
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SQM: The Theatre Of Everyday Life | Kortrijk Biennale Interieur | Space Caviar
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SQM: The Quantified Home | Kortrijk Biennale Interieur | Space Caviar
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The way we live is rapidly changing under pressure from multiple forces—financial, environmental, technological, geopolitical. What we used to call home may not even exist anymore, having transmuted into a financial commodity measured in square meters, or sqm. Yet, domesticity ceased long ago to be central in the architectural agenda; this project aims to launch a new discussion on the present and the future of the home. SQM: The Quantified Home, produced for the 2014 Biennale Interieur, charts the scale of this change using data, fiction, and a critical selection of homes and their interiors—from Osama bin Laden’s compound to apartment living in the age of Airbnb.
SQM: The Quantified Home | Kortrijk Biennale Interieur | Space Caviar
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With original texts by: Rahel Aima, Aristide Antonas, Gabrielle Brainard and Jacob Reidel, Keller Easterling, Ignacio González Galán, Joseph Grima, Hilde Heynen, Dan Hill, Sam Jacob, Alexandra Lange, Justin McGuirk, Joanne McNeil, Alessandro Mendini, Jonathan Olivares, Marina Otero Verzier, Beatriz Preciado, Anna Puigjaner, Catharine Rossi, Andreas Ruby, Malkit Shoshan, and Bruce Sterling. The book is published by Lars Müller, and is now available for sale in Europe; it will be available in the UK from December 2014, and in the US from January 2015. The dust jacket is screen-printed on wallpaper in 22 different patterns, randomly mixed.
SQM: The Quantified Home | Kortrijk Biennale Interieur | Space Caviar
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SQM: The Quantified Home | Kortrijk Biennale Interieur | Space Caviar
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SQM: The Quantified Home - Broelschool Demolition Workshop | Kortrijk Biennale Interieur | Space Caviar
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The abandoned Broelschool in the centre of Kortrijk hosts SQM: The Quantified Home. This installation combines a physical dĂŠrive through the sprawling building with a graphical timeline of evolving domesticity. During Biennale Interieur 2014, visitors have the last opportunity to explore this building before it is demolished to make way for the construction of apartments. To initiate the transition of the building and to critically examine the implications of this looming condition of domesticity, we invited ten young designers and architects from different countries to the Broelschool Demolition Workshop. During the workshop, the participants collectively designed and built a path through the building and created a series of graphical and physical interventions on the architecture of the school. Their work reveals hidden aspects of the original construction and cuts shortcuts and slices through the walls, leaving traces of a timeline of the home as well as original literature commissioned from contemporary authors.
SQM: The Quantified Home - Broelschool Demolition Workshop | Kortrijk Biennale Interieur | Space Caviar
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Using the building itself as a source of reusable material, the workshop predates the destruction and celebrates the transition of the school into its future.
SQM: The Quantified Home - Broelschool Demolition Workshop | Kortrijk Biennale Interieur | Space Caviar
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SQM: The Quantified Home - Broelschool Demolition Workshop | Kortrijk Biennale Interieur | Space Caviar
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PUBLIC CONTEST FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SEAFRONT OF FIGUEIRA DA FOZ
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Public Contest by the City Council of Figueira da Foz, Portugal September 2011 - December 2011 Classification: two honorable mentions Team arch. author Miguel Figueira | arch. author Pedro Maurício Borges | arch. author Pedro Bandeira arch. Paulo Sá | arch. João Simões | arch. Bernardo Martins de Almeida | arch. Lia Antunes | arch. Vitor Almeida
PUBLIC CONTEST FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SEAFRONT OF FIGUEIRA DA FOZ
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This public contest focused on the large beach of Figueira da Foz, on Portugal’s western Atlantic shore. The construction of the new seaport jetty blocked the natural flow of the sand coming from the northern beaches, forcing its deposit on the already large Claridade Beach, directy in front of the picturesque seafront of the city. Thus, the main concept of the Contest was the redevelopment of the large sand extension of the beach. The team participated in the competition launched by the city hall of Figueira da Foz with two proposals. FIRST PROPOSAL The first proposal was purely imaginary and conceptual. The proposal and drawings serve mainly to stimulate the imagination and
PUBLIC CONTEST FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SEAFRONT OF FIGUEIRA DA FOZ
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explore hypotheses that promote reflection and debate about the Beach and what could be done in such a large area. After successive failed responses to the growing sandy-plain over the years, our team turned to the historical use of the beach (and of the city’s main economic activity) – fishing – and tried a different approach. Besides trying to rearrange the boulevard and parking, we considered Buarcos, a town that has been incorporated into the city’s urban fabric, fishermen and their boats as perpetuators of a memory of the beach that the city wants to recover. This gives a second life to the existence of the boat and adapts it to new programmes – there is a variety of typological boats that easily adapt to the peculiari¬ties of each programme or scale investment. We do not want a lot of equipment on the beach, just the necessary ones - the boats and ships should ensure the minimum needs of the beach users and account for exceptional programmes with relevant interest to the beach and the city.
PUBLIC CONTEST FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SEAFRONT OF FIGUEIRA DA FOZ
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PUBLIC CONTEST FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SEAFRONT OF FIGUEIRA DA FOZ
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PUBLIC CONTEST FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SEAFRONT OF FIGUEIRA DA FOZ
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SECOND PROPOSAL The second intervention dialogues with other disciplines (hydraulics, geo¬logy) in a demand for an artificial transformation of the current beach into a smaller sand extension that existed in the 1950s/1960s. The proposal is based on the replacement of the existing coastline before the construction of the jetties of the Commercial Seaport in order to recover the “City-Beach”. Today, the occupation of the very large sand beach with urban equipments, which is still growing due to the recent extension of the North Jetty, cannot dissemble the sense of artificiality of its excesses. So the question that our team asked was: “What do we want for the beach?”. On one hand, to restore the beach which is still called the “Queen of Beaches”, we propose to carry the sediment retained by the north jetty south to the mouth of the river Mondego through a bypass system - the profile of the beach in the transition with the sea
PUBLIC CONTEST FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SEAFRONT OF FIGUEIRA DA FOZ
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is one of the most important factors to the quality of the beach and this depends on the submerged beach resulting from the natural deposit of sand. On the other hand, bathing assistance (tents, awnings, walkways) and beach facilities (showers, locker rooms) will accompany the retreat of the beach, being relocated under the seashore avenue, which flows along the urban front of Figueira da Foz. Our proposals were assigned an honorable mention to each one.
PUBLIC CONTEST FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SEAFRONT OF FIGUEIRA DA FOZ
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“Niú a’banizm (novo urbanismo?): a resposta neo-urbanista à decadência do urbano” | Master’s thesis
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Throughout the last decades of the 20th Century we have witnessed the escape of the masses from the urban centers of the Western World to the suburbs. This trend has worsened in recent years. The ancient cities, the cores of the surrounding regions, the focus of social and cultural experiences and commercial activities, are losing their population to the ever-growing urban peripheries. One of the causes of this urban exodus is due to several bad urban policies that still persist and were made known in the famous Athens Charter. The segregation of activities and services imposed by the Modernist Urbanism has left almost empty several urban centers throughout the world, but especially in the Western Civilization – urban centers that once thrived. Thereafter, while the historical cores have “shrunk”, the endless outskirts of these cities are spreading in every direction, the majority of them consisting of sterile and empty communities in terms of identity and culture. The emphasis in the automobile at the expense of the Human Being and the elimination of the traditional street, where city life happens, further aggravated the state of contemporary urban life: we are a society that is continuously isolating and suburbanizing itself.
“Niú a’banizm (novo urbanismo?): a resposta neo-urbanista à decadência do urbano” | Master’s thesis
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More recently, some movements born out of the Postmodern Condition such as Archigram, Metabolism, the Urbanismo Situacionista and New Urbanism have been gaining strength, fighting the stereotypes created by Modernism in regards to how urban planners and architects should conceive and design current cities. This dissertation focuses on the last movement, the New Urbanism, and explores its key concepts and ideologies, highlighting some of its greatest mentors and their idiosyncrasies. Beginning with the roots of Urbanism as a discipline, covering the main urban movements of the late nineteenth century such as the Garden City , and underlining the Modernist Urbanism and its disastrous consequences, this work attempts to remove the veil that still covers the New Urbanism, known for its nostalgic and historic trends, and tries to demonstrate how communities developed on a human scale, the heterogeneity of services and the further appreciation of the natural environment can offer solutions , although partial, to the decay of urban fabric in the Western World. Therefore, we explore the various principles governing this movement, as we concentrate on several examples and comparisons with other concurrent movements, in order to better explain the
“Niú a’banizm (novo urbanismo?): a resposta neo-urbanista à decadência do urbano” | Master’s thesis
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core of New Urbanism and what it is trying to implement. In the end, an outline is theorized about how the union of the best of the Modernist Urbanism and the New Urbanism can help combat the decline of towns and the increasingly individualistic and consumerist trend in Western society.