Lisbon Architecture Triennale / Exhibition Let's Talk About Houses in Cascais
27.11.2010 - 16.11.2011
Centro Cultural de Cascais, Av. Rei Humberto II de Italia, S/N 2750-641 Cascais, Portugal
LET'S TALK ABOUT [7] HOUSES in Cascais
Let's Talk about [7] Houses in Cascais is a curatorship project focussed on domestic architectural production. The idea is to reveal the spatial, functional, and landscape mechanisms of a creation that is made to respond to private, everyday life.
The fact that the geographical and social world is focussing on Cascais stimulates an approach that is articulated in accordance with sources as diverse as nostalgia and cosmopolitanism, public and private life, everyday life and experiences, construction and landscape, and experimentation and innovation. Cascais is understood to be a magical place driven by these values in the contemporary world.
To this end, seven case studies have been chosen which make it possible to put the theme in perspective as: 1) the house as a programme of spatial and constructive experimentation; 2) the house as a place in which the dream of happiness is projected; 3) the house as a promise of the "good life"; 4) the houses of Cascais on the contemporary architectural map.
We are starting from the principle that Cascais has an atmosphere that arises from its exceptional houses. For this reason, we are asking why it is that the plan of the single-family house is so fascinating for architects and why many of the best contemporary examples can be found in Cascais. The seven case studies make up a network that extends from the "Portuguese house" to modernism, from the classical spirit to radical modernity, and from organicity and intense complexities to depuration and suspension in the landscape.
Drawings, models, installations, and projections of images are the tools used in this exhibition, which is accompanied by a critical-reflexive book and highly sought-after visits to some of the places concerned.
Curator
Ana Tostoes
About Triennale
The Lisbon Architecture Triennale - the most significant architectural event in the Iberian Peninsula - is now in preparation for its second edition. Based on the high quality and development of Portuguese architecture, the Triennale aims to establish itself as an outstanding forum for discussing issues of contemporary architecture, starting from the principle that architectural practice is a fundamental expression of the creation of place, the construction of an integrating sense of citizenship, and cultural affirmation.
The 2010 Triennale
The theme of the 2010 Lisbon Architecture Triennale is LET'S TALK ABOUT HOUSES, a phrase from a poem by the Portuguese poet Herberto Helder. And its inherent urgency is nowadays fully justified.
The idea is to debate the question of housing, both literally and in a broader sense of housing in the world.
For three months the Triennale will be held at Lisbon's most important cultural venues, centring on three exhibitions, one centre in Cascais and an international conference about the relationship between architecture and politics, or how architecture and politics are mutually represented.
A large number of associated projects are spread among various Lisbon art galleries and other cultural institutions, making the city the European capital of architecture, its discussion and celebration.
The Triennale is above all an architecture festival, besides being a platform for debate and discussion about questions involving the social aspect of architecture, its ethical component and the cultural importance of architecture today. |
November 2010
