UNIT H
City Land Process Keita Tajima, Rhianon Morgan-Hatch
The territory of Alentejo, a region in the south of Portugal, has formed the focus of our investigation for the year. Its land expresses both the past memories and the present activities on its surface; deep holes of marble quarries, dotted lines of olive trees, half exposed cork trees, acres of vine productions and in between, cattle and pigs, portraying the relationship between people and natural systems. We are interested in how materials of the land can be re-thought and formed to express a specific spatial sensibility and experience, enriching our architectural approach to the city and design of spaces whilst revealing the intricacies of a place. The cities and towns of Alentejo, and their inhabitants, have a cultural identity formed by an embedded relationship with their surroundings. The knowledge of their land and its resources is a product of their interconnected rural, agricultural and industrial heritage. However, with rural populations decreasing due to migration towards the Portuguese cities, we have examined the potential space that is left behind, using this void as a catalyst for future speculation. Our re-imagining of this territory comes at a particularly poignant time in Portuguese history, where its inhabitants have the potential to shape its future safeguarding the genuine, vital energies of the region.
Students have worked with the one of three sites with differing conditions and resources (city extension, urban room, city void). Through investigation into the networks of resources in the region; earth, lime, cork, ceramics, wheat, stone (marble, granite), olive oil, cheese and wine, they have uncovered the makers, processes and associated architectural and urban/rural qualities that have assisted with a wider understanding of the cultural make-up of the region. Students have investigated and proposed models of educational/cultural spaces and infrastructures that act as a medium to enrich the relationship between the city, its inhabitants and the landscape.
h.1
Evora, Redondo, Vila Viçosa , Portugal
