September 2015
TRANSCRIBE SUMMER LAB 2015
Ways of Seeing and Representing Veiga de Penso in Braga
"Transcribing: Ways of Seeing and Representing" was an international workshop developed in Veiga de Penso in Braga, Portugal in 2015.
This workshop resulted in four projects that were presented in a public exhibition at "GRNation", a cultural hub in the centre of Braga.
ORGANIZATION
Space Transcribers
School of Architecture of University of Minho
Braga´s City Council
DATE
7 to 12 of September 2015
LOCATION
Veiga de Penso, Braga, Portugal
The topography structures this region: Forest on the height composing a nest for the valley, Agriculture marking the lowland, Inhabitants living on the slope and punctual rises.
Water is the element that links, crosses and sustains between these activities.
Nevertheless, walking through the site, we realized that the water is almost imperceptible.
Like a manifest, we proposed a movie, as an inquiry and as a witness of our site experience.
The objective of this movie is to reveal the existing water system from top to bottom and from one scale to another.
Water can be a drop.
Water can be a gutter.
Water can be a ditch.
Water can be a stream.
Water can be an irrigation system.
Water can be a tank.
Water can be a well.
Water can be a river… water is everywhere.
Water is allowing life.
… Process
First we started to spend time in the forest searching for water.
We followed some clues: ditch, rocks, pipes… expecting to find it.
Disappointed after one day, without water … thirsty, we decided to question some inhabitants.
Where is the water coming from?
We met a shoemaker, a housekeeper, a retired man and many farmers… all of them were explaining us the importance of the water for the Veiga.
Slowly we started to understand the hidden connections in the landscape, following soil and vegetation marks.
Water carved the landscape.
Water developed the economy.
Water created links between people.
Water is maintained thanks to old peoples; by using, cleaning, restoring and preserving all the different structures.
Tomorrow, who will take care of the water?
FORMAT
Video (8:02 min). Images recorded by the participants from their smartphones and digital cameras. Map with water structures.
MONITORS
Amélie Fontaine
Eduardo Ferreira
PARTICIPANTS
Adeline Tallet
Mathias Coutant-Tisic
Pedro Guedes
Joana Vieira
Patrícia Monteiro
Moreover, it was created a diagram based on existing cartography, which attempted to map the influence of the corn production in the transformation of this landscape. The diagram intended to represent a time line defined by one typical year of the corn production, in order to perceive how the corn correlates and hierarchies several social, economical and spatial activities in Veiga do Penso.
To sum up, CornScape is the representation of an existing specificity of Veiga do Penso´s landscape. By gleaning samples in-situ (sensorial analysis) and by mapping the processes of the corn production (scientific analysis), it was possible not only to make visible existing social and economical dynamics, but also to understand the agents behind the corn production and to raise an awareness around this specificity.
FORMAT
Glass jars with agricultural and natural samples related to the corn cycle production. Diagram. Video (3:34 min)
MENTORS
Fernando P Ferreira
Sara Ferreira
PARTICIPANTS
Leslie Jacquemart
Mariana Arantes
Olavo Franco
Iolanda Marques
Filipa Alves
Ivo Rodrigues
Ana Gonzalez
Instagram of the project: @corn_scape
Through a theoretical perception of the diversity of relations among various elements that compose it, we want to represent Veiga. The skeleton of its territory, and the different intentions and needs that shape it. The importance of the context of Veiga lays in the intertwining of the different processes that it hosts.
In this way, we aim at showing the diversity of the fragments of a common land and
a collage that recreates the present and dynamics of Veiga the Penso.
FORMAT
Wooden structure with acetate photo collage
MONITORS
Daniel Correia
Flavia Larocca
Daniel Duarte Pereira
PARTICIPANTS
Antoine Pierron (ENSAPL)
Jeane Penichou (ENSAPL)
Paula Martins (EAUM)
Anthony Faria (EAUM)
Cátia Chaves (FCUP)
In Veiga, and generally throughout the Northern Portuguese region, the coexistence of artisanal, plowed fields with lawns designed for leisure demonstrate the inaccuracy of such distinctions.
Thus, it can be argued the designation of some area as “urban” has lost meaning, as the term is neither clear nor apt. Further, low-density areas are often perceived as less valuable, either because they are marginalized or removed from urban networks.
“Veiga Agora” (Veiga Now) intends to awake not only a social awareness, but cultural and economic; to promote the idea that agricultural land is as valuable as urban land. The goal is to present all estate as equal; the distinctions and discrimination of activities carried out on the agricultural land is intended to be reduced via the juxtaposition and comparison of various, relevant elements.
We employ parallels between the land and its agricultural value, which is directly specified by quantities that can be produced by a 1m2 plot. The focus of the intervention is on the unfinished, abandoned and unoccupied housing infrastructures, in order to establish awareness and mentality of change.
FORMAT
Four A2 panels and installation symbolizing the action occurred in Veiga de Penso. Video in two acts.
MONITORS
Belen Zevallos (Space Transcribers)
Tiago Silva (Braga Municipality)
PARTICIPANTS
Anne Bausson (ENSAPL)
Fernando Vieira (EAUM)
Rasha Askar (EAUM)
Diana Araújo (EAUM)
Cristina Silva (EAUM)
Carla Ferreira (EAUM)
Diogo Matos (FCUP)
Datasheet
Transcribing Summer Lab 2015 – Ways of Seeing and Representing Veiga de Penso in Braga
7 to 12 of Septembre 2015
Organization
Braga´s City Council – Urban Regeneration, Heritage, Connection to the University, Town Planning and Urbanism Council
Architecture School – University of Minho
Space Transcribers
Coordination
Belen Zevallos, Space Transcribers
Daniel Duarte Pereira, EAUM, Space Transcribers
Coordination Support
Orlando Jorge, architect
Participants
Integrated Master Course in Architecture, Architecture School – University of Minho, Portugal
Anthony Faria, Carla Ferreira, Cristina Silva, Diana Araújo, Fernando Vieira, Filipa Alves, Iolanda Marques, Ivo Rodrigues, Joana Vieira, Mariana Arantes, Olavo Franco, Paula Martins, Pedro Guedes, Rasha Askar
Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, Portugal
Ana Gonzalez, Cátia Chaves, Diogo Matos, Patrícia Monteiro
Architecture and Landscape, École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture et de Paysage de Lille, France
Adeline Tallet, Anne Bausson, Antoine Pierron, Jeane Penichou, Leslie Jacquemart, Mathias Coutant-Tisic
Monitors
Amélie Fontaine, architecture and landscape, ENSAPL
Belen Zevallos, architecture and participation, Space Transcribers
Daniel Correia Fernandes, Videography and multimedia
Daniel Duarte Pereira, architecture and representation, Space Transcribers
Eduardo Ferreira, geography and music
Fernando P Ferreira, architecture and art, EAUM
Flavia Larocca, Storytelling
Sara Ferreira, architecture
Tiago Silva, architecture and urban planning, Braga City Hall
Creative Breakfasts
Ana Patrícia Gomes, architecture and participation, Prosaico Coletivo
André Castanho, architecture and photography
Cidália Ferreira Silva, architecture and time studies, EAUM
Francisco Costa, architecture and participation, Prosaico Coletivo
João Maia, architecture and sound
Luís Lima, architecture and participation, Prosaico Coletivo
Pedro Galego, architecture and participation, Prosaico Coletivo
Open Classes
“Territory and food safety” by Vincenzo Riso, architecture, EAUM.
“The landscape of the cow” by Álvaro Domingues, geography, FAUP
Guest Critics
Architecture School – University of Minho, Portugal
Cidália Ferreira Silva
Marta Labastida
Rute Carlos
Braga City Hall
Miguel Bandeira
Fátima Pereira
Working Space and Camping
Headquarters and Sports Complex of the Parish of Penso S. Vicente
Local Support
Union of Parishes of Escudeiros and Penso (S. Vicente and Sto. Estevão)
Parish Chairman Orlando Gomes, Rui Pereira, Pedro Faria
Parish of Lamas
Parish Chairman João Alves, Sérgio Oliveira, José Ferreira,
Parish of Esporões
Parish Chairman João Oliveira
Union of Parishes of Morreira and Trandeiras
Parish Chairman Manuel Martins, José Dias
Parish of Figueiredo
Parish Chairman Marco Oliveira, João Marques
Acknowledgements
Gonçalo Marques, Agronomic Engineer
Community of Veiga de Penso
Carpentry Office Márcio e Avelino Lda.
Carpentry Office Oliveira e Filhos. Lda.
