With the change in the time dimension, a consequence of the dizzying speed of travel, architecture, viewed as an artistic practice of territorial transformations, is continually producing new shapes.
Those known urban shapes, dominated, enclosed by their city walls, by beltways or by specific morphological placing conditions are undergoing a mutation.
The character and quality of these new places constitute the guiding study theme for the cultural event we have proposed to develop this year. A reflection that results from acknowledging the urban, landscape and environmental catastrophe caused by the use of the territory exclusively subordinated to economic interest.
We consider to be important the introduction of the point of view of those who intent to construct an artificial environment related to the quality standards that a civil community is entitled to.
It is our purpose to analyse some processes, verifying the character of changings, not of a generically defined territory, but of the artificial territory configured as a consequence of projectual actions at different scales through several high quality examples.
We propose to demonstrate with works and projects in the Oporto Metropolitan Area, as with some references to the European territory, the possibility of building, with architecture, urban shapes able to enhance the quality of the artificial territory.
We want to state the right and responsibility of architecture as the subject in charge of constructing freeways, parking lots, bridges, tunnels, supermarkets, etc., and not only of building beautiful architectural objects.
This is a right not only reserved to architecture, but to all the elements involved in the construction and changing of the artificial landscape, directed towards the recovery and development of urban quality, related to new and emerging functions of the existing models of economic development.
Urban shapes are coherent with an urban culture that revels itself as an expression of the history of Man's relationship with specific places.
AUTHORS
FÁTIMA FERNANDES AND MICHELE CANNATÀ
DESIGNER
JOÃO MACHADO
PHOTOGRAPHY
LUIS FERREIRA ALVES
EDITOR
ASA EDITORES II S.A.
Avenida da Boavista, 3265 - Sala 4.1
Apartado 1035
4101-001 Porto
Portugal
Tel 226166030
Fax: 226155346
e-mail: edicoes@asa.pt
internet: www.asa.pt
@ MICHELE CANNATÀ & FÁTIMA FERNANDES
1st Edition October 2002
LEGAL DEPOSIT
185724/02
ISBN
972-41-3178-5
