Time, Memory and Continuity
Porto, Portugal
The Unit is interested in how materials of the land and city can be re-thought and formed to express a specific spatial sensibility and experience, enriching our architectural approach to the city whilst revealing the intricacies of place-memory. Alongside this, due to an increasing awareness of the various environmental crisis we are facing, the unit will look at vernacular building methods which provide a sustainable, economical and accessible way forward, to provide a sustainable growth of Porto in the future. We will be investigating the eastern edge of the city, the area called Bonfim where the past industrial buildings still exist. This quiet historic neighbourhood has been a home for mix of elderly residents, students, artists, and small manufactures until recently. But in the past 10 years, the area is slowly transforming into a desirable neighbourhood attracting an influx of foreign investments and land speculations, and subsequently resulting a less space for residents. Students have been working on the idea of ‘a civic space for cultural production’, exploring how educational and cultural civic infrastructure can be developed collaboratively to enrich the relationship between the city and its inhabitants.
Teaching partner: Keita Tajima
Porto, Portugal
The Unit is interested in how materials of the land and city can be re-thought and formed to express a specific spatial sensibility and experience, enriching our architectural approach to the city whilst revealing the intricacies of place-memory. Alongside this, due to an increasing awareness of the various environmental crisis we are facing, the unit will look at vernacular building methods which provide a sustainable, economical and accessible way forward, to provide a sustainable growth of Porto in the future. We will be investigating the eastern edge of the city, the area called Bonfim where the past industrial buildings still exist. This quiet historic neighbourhood has been a home for mix of elderly residents, students, artists, and small manufactures until recently. But in the past 10 years, the area is slowly transforming into a desirable neighbourhood attracting an influx of foreign investments and land speculations, and subsequently resulting a less space for residents. Students have been working on the idea of ‘a civic space for cultural production’, exploring how educational and cultural civic infrastructure can be developed collaboratively to enrich the relationship between the city and its inhabitants.