Circles in a Circle - Research by Sreehari Radhakrishnan

AZORE ARCHEPELAGO STUDIO SREEHARI RADHAKRISHNAN S2129677 | MLA2

Azore is a perfect rehearsal and research studio for landscape architecture and for landscape studies because it is a landscape that has been changing accordingly to productive economical movements.

-JOÃO NUNES

PREFACE

I believe the context must be deep-rooted in the present landscape to develop a theme-based design proposal. In this design proposal, the intent was to propose a design inspired from the existing local myths and beliefs. Myths, Folkore and legends etc., are part of the history and the culture of a particular territory. They are unique and is deeply rooted in the current context. The research process was later influenced by the Circles in a Circle drawing by Wassily Kandinsky and the philosophy of radical decentering by Simone Weil. It is an experimental approach to address the design and the landscape .

CONTENTS

Azores : World Scale Azores : Archipelago Scale Occidential Group Central Group Oriental Group Encircling Circles – Research Archipelago Initial Human Settlement Spirit and Rocks : An Azorean Myth Body and Soul of the Earth Azore and Atlantis Azorean Folklore Mythological Map Princess Bluegreen of Seven cities Circles in a Circle. Sete Cidades Threat to Lake Azul and Lake Verde Experiencing Topography Intermediate Scale Lank Santiago and Terceira Rift Fault line Reference

AZORES : GLOBAL SCALE

An archipelago of nine volcanic islands in the Noth Atlantic Ocean placed strategically on the transatlantic air and shipping routes. It is located 3640km distant from Northern America and 1450km from Europe (Portugal). They are well known for vibrantly coloured blue-green lakes, fertile prairies, volcanic craters, Old 15th century churches and majestic manor houses. It has a total land area of 2346 sqkm, i.e. 0.0015% of the world’s total land area.

AZORES : ARCHIPELAGO SCALE

Even though the Archipelago is too small, it has greater relevance globally for multiple reasons. It spreads over more than 600km east-west, holding that dominant position the North Atlantic Ocean. The nine islands are generally divided into three groups. 1.OccidentalGroup 2.Central Group 3.Oriental Group It is a part of Macaronesian Bioregion and is home to more than 5300 endemic species. It holds four UNESCO Biosphere Reserves and two UNESCO World heritage sites.

OCCIDENTAL GROUP

It consists of islands, Corvo and Flores. Both are widely considered the smallest island among the archipelago, where Corvo was the smallest one. Corvo is commonly known as the Island of Crow, and Flores is known as the Island of Flowers. Flores is well known for its abundance of flowers on the island. Both the island is placed at the North American plate.

CENTRAL GROUP

Most of the islands come under the Central group. Among those five islands, three (San Jorge, Faial, Pico)are collectively known as Triangle islands or Island of Triangles. Pico is famous for its UNESCO designated vineyards, and its also home to the highest peak in entire Portugal, Mt Pico. Terceira Island is the location for the oldest city in Azore, Angra do Heroísmo. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. San Jorge is discovered at the feast day of Saint George; that is why the island is named so. It has a unique geography of thin islands with tall cliffs. Faial island is considered as the westernmost point of the European plate. It is named after Fayal trees, the most commonly seen species on the island. The fifth island, Graciosa, means graceful in Portuguese and is commonly known as White Island. It is situated in Terceira Rift tectonic structure.

ORIENTAL GROUP

It consists of 2 islands, Sao Miguel and Santa Maria, named after its discovery date. Sao Miguel was discovered at the feast day of Saint Miguel and San Maria at the feast day of the Virgin Mary. Sao Miguel is the largest island among the archipelago . These two islands are the closest islands to Europe. Sao Miguel is commonly known as Green Island, whereas Santa Maria is known for its white-sand beaches and drywarm weather.

ENCIRCLING CIRCLES - RESEARCH

To develop a design proposal deeply rooted in the Azorean context. The design must address people, culture and landscape across the archipelago. In each stage in research, main focus was on the archipelago scale rather than focusing on the regional speciality. At a particular instance when these Circles of People, culture and landscape merged equally, that gave the conviction to follow that least explored route

ARCHIPELAGO

The term Archipelago was the initial inspiration during the initial research. Rather than researching in-depth about each island, the idea was to consider the islands as a single landscape. The islands were interconnected under the water and were the tip of submerged volcanoes. So the idea of believing the landscape as a single landmass was seconded with this geographical relevance.

INITIAL HUMAN SETTLEMENT ENTRE-DOURO -E-MiINHO

BEIRA

TRASOS MONTES Diogo de Silves, a well known Atlantic explorer from Portugal, allegedly discovered the Azores in 1427. The first settlement in the Azores was around ‘ Báia dos Anjos’ at the north of Santa Maria. Later they were quickly moved to the south; Vila do Porto. By 1440, more settlements arose along the river valley and coastal areas of Sao Miguel, Terceira, Faial and Pico. These settlements were mainly for fishing purposes. By 1444, Sao Miguel was populated by people from the Estremadura, Alentejo, and Algarve regions of Portugal.

ESTREMADURA

ALENTEJO

ALGARVE

Poster of the short film (At the top) and the screenshots from the shortfilm that shares a glimpse of the content. Credits : Aylin Gökmen

SPIRIT AND ROCKS : AN AZOREAN MYTH

Aylin Gökmen, A Swiss-Turkish filmmaker, conceived this short film of 14 minutes duration that tells the story about the myths and beliefs of the people of Azore. She gave an insight into the myths and the beliefs in the present Azorean landscape, which is unique and familiar to all islands. According to the myths, ‘when human beings moved to the island, they brought with them their sins. Their sins bring ghostly figures down from the top of the mountain—the eruption of the volcano. In order to rid themselves of the ghosts, the residents burn fires, hoping that the smoke from the fires will take the ghosts back to the top of the mountain. This is how the people make sense of the continuing eruptions of the volcano and the damage those eruptions bring to the villages of the people. The myth gives meaning to this continuous cycle of destruction and rebuilding.’

From Kircher’s Mundus Subterreanus, the underground network of fire and water that he believed formed Earth’s interior.

Credits : Phantom Islands, Dirk Liesemer

BODY AND SOUL OF EARTH

The Lost City of Atlantis is always a fascination for people worldwide. In the book Phantom islands by Dirk Liesemer, the Author narrates stories about mythical islands worldwide. In the book, the myths about Atlantis are explained using the works of a Jesuit scholar, Athanasius Kircher. According to him, The earth has a body and a soul like the human body. The ocean currents circulate the globe, which is considered as blood. He argued that the earth skeleton consists of mountain chains that hold the earth together. To test this skeleton theory of the earth, Kircher decided to study the mythical islands of Atlantis. He successfully created a map that locates the Sunken continent on the world map.

Kircher’s 1675 map of the world after the Great Flood. The location of Atlantis is marked in the Atlantic Ocean. (Print Collector/Getty Images)

AZORE AND ATLANTIS

A well-known myth in the Azorean landscape links the islands with The Lost City of Atlantis or Atlantis. It was initially conceived by the Athenian philosopher Plato. In 1644, Athanasius Kircher placed Atlantis roughly halfway between North America and the Iberian Peninsula. On Kircher’s Map, the outline of Atlantis was similar to South America. At this time, the people in Europe started to believe in the existence of the mythical sunken island. According to Kircher, he was drawing the map using Egyptian sources and Plato’s statements about the location and the existence of Atlantis. According to Plato, Ancient Egyptians knew more than people had imagined previously.

Credits : Elsie Spicer Eells, The island of magic

AZOREAN FOLKLORE

According to Kircher’s Map, the Atlantis was located precisely at the location of the Azores. It made me think about the relationship between Azores and Atlantis. Since Kircher’s study was based on the mythological assumption and assumption’s without any scientific proof. It inspires me to match the thought process with that of Athanasius Kircher. The search to find the link between Azore and Atlantis was ended using myths and folklores. The island of Magic, written by Elsie Spicer Eells, is widely considered the bible of Azorean Folklore. She successfully collected the myths, legends and stories in the Azorean landscape. In this book, the first story’ “Princess Bluegreen and the Seven Cities’, tells the story behind the sunken of Atlantis; it is folklore about Princess Azulverde. A mythological map was made by including some handpicked stories from the book The Island of Magic, which has a defined landscape background. It consists of the story about Columbus in Azore, Princess Blue green of Seven cities, The story of a Peach Tree, and the messengers etc.

MYTHOLOGICAL MAP

Credits : Elsie Spicer Eells, The island of magic

PRINCESS BLUEGREEN OF THE SEVEN CITIES Among other folklores and stories,’ PRINCESS BLUEGREEN OF THE SEVEN CITIES’ has some relation with the mythology of Atlantis. it was a story about A King and A Queen. They lived in a magnificent phase but was sad because they didn’t have a child. Once a straight came to help them. After listening to their prayers. Blessed them, but with a condition; he will take their daughter and give back only when she turns 20. -After her 18th birthday, King lost his patience and decided to attack the Seven Cities to free the princess. In the end, The earth trembled and shrank downwards, and the seas burst over the great land of Atlantis, covering all in water. iAfter the sunken, only fair Atlantis remained above the water and is knowns as the Azores

TERRITORIAL INTERPRETATION

SCALE 1:20,000 on A2

SEARA CALDEIRA DO ALFERES

SETE CIDADES VILLAGE

CALDEIRA SECA

LAKE AZUL

LAKE VERDE

LAKE RASA

LAKE SANTIAGO

SETE CIDADES

The landscape that acts as a backdrop for the folklore ‘ PRINCESS BLUEGREEN AND THE SEVEN CITIES’ were Sete Cidades and the lagoons nearby, known as ‘ Lagoa das Sete Cidades’ or Lagoon of Seven Cities ‘. Even though the research that led to the site selection was based on pure fictional elements, the environmental and social issues in the area seconded the decision to choose the site. The Lake Verde and Lake Azul, mentioned in the folklore backdrop, is now relevant in landscape architecture’s context because of the environmental threat. Lake Azul, Lake Verde and the lake nearby, Lake Santiago, are considered some of the most polluted water bodies in the entire Azorean landscape . The design strategies evolved in addressing the context can also be applied for similar typologies all over the archipelago. The complex and the unique topography of the Sete Cidades was another factor that inspired the site selection. It gives the impression of an island within an island. This unique topography also created a microclimatic condition, different from the normal Azorean climatic conditions.

SECTION THROUGH LAKE AZUL AND LAKE VERDE The section explains the complexity of the topography and the edge conditions of the lakes. Analysing the section clearly describes why the lakes have been under severe environmental threat. There is no restriction for the surface runoff in reaching the lake. The Azorean landscape has the character of changing according to the productive economic movement. There is a significant change happened in the land use pattern near the lake; it has seriously affected the life within the lake.

SECTION THROUGH LAKE AZUL AND LAKE SANTIAGO Sete Cidedas is famous for Lake Azul and Lake Verde, but it also has Lake Santiago which is equally beautiful and polluted like Azul and Verde. The profile of Lake Santiago resembles the wall of death. This section runs through Lake Santiago, Lake Azul and extends up to Caldeira Do Alfres. it conveys information about the surface runoff and the topography of the site .

LAKE AZUL

LAKE VERDE

SEDIMENTS

PARASITOSIS

AQUATIC PLANTS

EUTROPHICATION

TIME

RAINBOW TROUT CULTURE

THREAT TO LAKE AZUL AND LAKE VERDE The environmental threat faced by LakeAzul and Lake Verde was initially due to eutrophication. It was mainly due to unethical agricultural practices closer to the lakes. The Surface runoff from these agricultural lands was contaminated due to the presence of fertilizers. Since the productive landscape always influenced Azore, fertilizers or chemicals were used without proper monitoring. It was mainly because of the presence of minerals due to eutrophication. The eutrophication initiated the growth of aquatic plants within the lake. The presence of aquatic plants played an essential role in the growth of parasites; algae started to form within the lake. The parasites presence led to Parasitosis and was the main reason behind the failure of Rainbow trout culture attempted in 1987. After that, the lake was kept unused and now got the presence of sediments at the bottom. Even though the threat was explained in the context of Lake Azul and Lake Verde, it is also applicable to other lakes within Sete Cidades or even the Azores.

SCALE 1:100,000

EXPERIENCING TOPOGRAPHY

Exploration of the topography is crucial in the landscape architecture context, as it has a crucial role in the organic design evolution process. At first, a 1:100,000 scaled model of the western half of Sao Miguel was 3d printed using the available contour data. It helps in understanding the topography clearly and the external site to an extent. After that, a virtual site visit was done to explore the site, using Google Earth and the scale model. The scale model gave a sense of touch, and google earth supported the process by giving a visual understanding of the selected site.

SCALE 1:50,000

INTERMEDIATE SCALE

A 1:50,000 scale model of the Sete Cidades was made to explore the complexity of the topography. It has helped a lot in learning about the reasons behind the environmental threats to the lake. It also supported in giving the conviction to finalise the landscape design strategies.

SCALE: NTS

LAKE SANTIAGO AND TERCEIRA RIFT FAULT LINE Apart from Lake Azul and Lake Verde, Lake Santiago was also grabbed attention because of its unique profile. A not-toscale model of Lake Santiago and the closer area was made to study its unique feature. The proximity of the Terceira Rift fault lines made the topography more complex. Like other lakes, eutrophication is also a significant threat for the lake, and it needs proper treatment from the top level.

REFERENCE

Circles of Circle --------------------------------- https://www.wassilykandinsky.net/work-247.php Kircher’s Mundus Subterreanus ----------- https://www.sensesatlas.com/territory/mundus-subterraneus-athanasius-kircher/ The islands of Magic ----------------------------- https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/34431/pg34431-images.html