Urban artist Alexandre Farto, AKA VHILS showcased his work at CAIXA Cultural Recife. The exhibition “Incisāo”, rose from a collaborative work with the Guarani Tribe, the result of an artistic residency at the Araçaí village, in Brazil.
Incisão – Alexandre Farto AKA VHILS
From November 22nd to January 25th, 2015
“In 1940, Portugal commemorated the tercentenary of the restoration of its Independence and the 800th anniversary of its birth with a programme of events culminating in the Exhibition of the Portuguese World. Staged in Belém and centered on the specially created Praça do Império (Empire Square), the exhibition aimed to promote the most notable events and achievements of the nation’s past. The square was in a place already bordered by landmarks alluding to the Era of Discoveries, including the Monastery of Jerónimos, Afonso de Albuquerque Square, the Tower of Belém and the river Tagus. The Espelho de Água was built to serve as the restaurant/beer hall for the event, with design by António Lino, executed under the guidance of Cottinelli Telmo, lead architect for the exhibition. Its modernist style was subject to later alterations that detracted from its original dimensions both inside and out.
The building is flanked by a large water feature that reaches out to the river to create a sensation of floating. The overall structure follows a rigorous metric that shares its proportions with large sculptures that lead to the entrance.The building was originally composed of two separate areas set apart and united by a third that served as an entrance. This was demolished after the exhibition and replaced by a construction of ephemeral character, with roofing supported by metallic trusses covered by zinc sheeting.
The intervention now undertaken seeks to restore the building to its original characteristics at the time of the closing of the exhibition in 1940, before the site underwent major changes. Visually polluting features have been removed, a non-original structure to the south has been demolished and the overall framework restored. The opening up of a large skylight in the centre of the space alludes to the open-air patio that once separated the original main structures.
The installation of a cafeteria and restaurant on the ground floor, linked to the terrace , led to the discovery of a mural by the artist Sol Lewitt, dated 1990, which was fully restored. The centrally located kitchen is flanked by walls covered by vertical gardens.
To the north, there is a quieter leisure area with views towards the Belém Cultural Centre and the Monastery of Jerónimos, as well as a shop and mezzanine. From here can also be seen the stairs leading up to the first-floor office area. To the west, in the main entrance zone, an open space serves as an art gallery and music venue.
The interior reveals the structure of the building, giving an idea of the different areas that compose it. Finishings are minimal, with concrete flooring and white surfaces. Lines of lighting work to emphasize the interior drama of the space, while circular lamps on the north and the south facades are a final touch to emphasize links with the original 1940 project.”
in DC. AD website
more photos here.
Team
Victor Vicente
Tiago pereira
Pedrita Studio
Construction
Tulipa Real
Photography
Francisco Nogueira
“This exhibition presents a perspective on the furniture used in public buildings in Portugal during the forty years under the Estado Novo. It is the result of a research project held in the various archives of Public Works in search around the country of buildings and objects considered significant. (…)
In this exhibition are gathered about a hundred pieces of furniture. Almost without exception, it is the first time they all enter a Museum. Some of these pieces were still in use. The majority, however, was casted away. Many are already unique pieces of what once were numerous sets, now redeemed from the warehouses in which they were placed.
They are displayed in the exact condition in which we found them, without any renewal process. The marks of use, the scars, the improvised remedies make visible materials and construction processes otherwise not obvious. Just as stories of intense life, interaction with users, past or recent.
The three first nuclei of the exhibition show different aesthetic and ideological orientations materialized into furniture projects for specific public buildings:
1. internationalist attraction
2. conservative and authoritarian State
3. with the modern movement
The fourth nucleus – standard furniture – gathers pieces made to meet certain functions, without a single building as destination.”
in MUDE website
Exhibition design + Graphic design
Pedro Ferreira e Rita João (Pedrita) + Nuno Caniça
Photo credits: Pedrita studio
“The project, activated under the Martino Gamper’s direction on order of Confartigianato and CNA Vicenza under the project Valore Artigiano, was able to combine international designer’s creativity and venetian artisan’s work. A “report” about human and professional matters, about relationships and exchanges, which has created an original production of objects and accessories, unique or in a little series pieces, characterized by style and quality. FROM-TO was conceived not to be another “object exhibition”, but to give a meaning, commercial too, to the designers-artisan companies relationship, to the stories that tell thought and realization of a product and that every object hides.”
in FROM – TO website
Sweet stands — Artisans Myver di Pietro Viero & FL. One off organic clouds in blown borosilicate glass in opposition to very geometrical stackable shapes carefully milled and hand polished. For exclusive deli displays.
Filetto — Artisan: Mobilificio Saretta. From horizontal to vertical. Revisiting construction standards of Veneto hand-made table’s tradition on wall mirrors.
Magnet Faces — Artisan: Unigraf. Friendly faces that become other playful creatures, scenarios, letters or memo words. To play, learn and enjoy at home. Each Face includes a set of magnetic cardboard pieces and an inspiring poster. For all ages from 4 upwards.
A project promoted by Confartigianato Vicenza and CNA Vicenza
Scentific Coordinator
Venice International University
Curator
Martino Gamper
“Pato Mudo is a unique initiative in Portugal combining the tradition of tiles and national contemporary design. On the wall of the Jardim Botânico Tropical, perpendicular to the Travessa do Marta Pinto, home of the project promoting this initiative, this panel will become a feature in the urban landscape of Lisbon and Belém. Created by Design studio Pedrita, Pato Mudo features a panel made of 559 15x15cm tiles recuperated from over 10 factories, most of them no longer in existence. This panel takes up an area of 4,5m (height) x 5,5m (width). For this creation, studio Pedrita used the ‘Grão technique’, which consists of a composition of photographic panels, with the use discontinued Portuguese industrial tiles. Using a digital base, dozens of tiles are laid side-by-side composing a wider image. This technique is suitable to be applied to surfaces (façades, gables, walls, etc.), that comprise two possible readings of a specific image, each corresponding to a specific distance between the panel and the observer: the distance of human scale, for those who walk near the panel and see the various drawings and motifs on the tiles that compose it, and the distance of urban scale, for those who walk at a greater distance, and manage to obtain, at a glance, the total perception of the reproduced image.”
Project direction
Eduardo Fernandes
Production direction
Fábia Fernandes
Production direction
Sérgio Parreira
Equipments and assemblies
José Vaz Fernandes
Construction
Carlos A. Lacerda
Support
Câmara Municipal de Lisboa
Jardim Botânico Tropical
Junta de Freguesia de Belém
Cortiço e Netos
What is Laugh? What makes you, us, Laught? What kind of Laught is it? Humor vs Laughthing? What are the limits of Laughing? What about the morphology of Laughing?
The need for a definition Laughing as a gathering theme for this exhibition, was as challenging as the exhibition’s design process for finding a set for the around 500 art and multimedia pieces selected. The result was probably the opposite of what’s usually thought and designed as a background for the art piece. Not neutral. Not immaculate. The need for a lively and metaphorical space, but still flexible and able to engage and guide the visitor while discovering a considerably dense and eclectic number of contents, lead us to this solution.
The result is an orthogonal grid 70x70x70cm in natural pinewood profile that fills the voids of the impotent industrial exhibition venue at Museu da Electricidade. With more then 12 meter high, the solution taken is a dense, but still transparent and human volume lined in between the original industrial metallic structures from the original space. The gaps in this volume shape the visitors path on a rhythmic assortment of corridors, small rooms, large rooms, narrow corridors, tunnels or squares.The sequence aims to surprise the visitor while revealing the pieces according to thematic groups within the Laughing umbrella. The transparency of the volume allows a visual crossed contamination from different thematic groups reconnecting with the idea of the immateriality and boundless of Laughting as a subject.
The adopted constructive system was designed focusing on the disassemble of the exhibition concerning the full preservation and reuse of all used constructive elements for future transformation into other projects.
Assistant Curators
Joana Simões Henriques
José Machado
Exhibition Design
António Pedro Louro
Gonçalo Prudêncio
Pedro Ferreira
Rita João
Graphic Design
Vera Tavares
Culture Adviser
António Soares
Production
Margarida Almeida Chantre
Aires Duarte
Fernando Ribeiro
Pascal Carvalho
Conservation and Register
Margarida Almeida Chantre
Joana Simões Henriques
Management and Legal Assistance
António Guimarães Verdial
Construction
Eurostand
Setting
Museu da Eletricidade
SET UP
Balaclava Noir
Visitor Service
Raquel Eleutério (Coordination)
Ana Cachado
Jorge Batista
Maria José Dantas
“Performance Architecture is an international ideas competition aimed at choosing proposals for five temporary urban interventions in the scope of Guimarães 2012 European Capital of Culture. The competition intends to draw up architectural and urban strategies that, in reactivating performance art approaches, provide new directions as to the roles of architects, artists and designers in the urban context. The competition selects multidisciplinary teams proposing temporary concepts and structures that will stimulate the appropriation of controversial public spaces by the city inhabitants.”
in Competition Open Call text
It breeds semi-mobile individual seats, conformed in concrete into a textile mold, serving the local population at designate locations around the city. These units become part of the urban landscape of Guimarães. They can be arranged in various public spaces serving different purposes: a concert, chatting between neighbors, occasionally stops for a rest, or just to hang out with friends. The fact of being semi-mobile will help to spread them naturally around public space allowing a direct configuration of the urban landscape according to its users needs. This same factor will also allow, in a long term period, the gradual insertion of the seats on the private community spreading its impact in the city.
Mounted on wheels, the machine can be moved between the various points of interest in the city in order to better serve and work for local events. The presence of the U N I D A D E should enhance the exploration and use of less central spaces thus creating new centers of interest in unexpected areas of Guimarães.
Sound will take an important role imposing the presence of the U N I D A D E in the city calling peoples’ attention for its working periods: a rotating siren marks the duration of the production and mechanical pieces are equipped with parts that vocalize the physical actions that are taking place, thus establishing this machine as a new sound-mark on the city. Although using a sound type (siren) that is usually associated with specific places (industry/schools) and very strict labour periods, the U N I D A D E re-contextualizes this characteristics in an informal time and space. Its sound-performance inhabits different places and sound-marks non previously established moments during the day.
The machine will be introduced to the local community in three performative actions of demonstration: the first one has a premiere and first public use of the machine. It will be performed by the U N I D A D E production team; a second action of demonstration where the production team will actively involve local people in all the production steps; the third action will correspond to the “key delivery” ceremony.
Pedro Ferreira + Ricardo Jacinto
“Edition of Nine places emphasis on the design process, focusing on the encounter and exchange between artisans and designers. After the success of last year’s project Edition of Six, brand new objects of a limited series will be on show, introducing new fields of collaboration and experimentation.”
Out, a long-germinating project, started with the desire to be more organized and to display flowers without necessarily being a florist.
Composed of various materials and shapes… and drawings from sketchbooks, dating as far back as 2002, the idea slowly matured until it finally found a sense in the challenge to think of “something good” combining ceramic and marble.
The result is a system of handmade ceramic containers with marble tops that can be used not only as flower holders, but also as complementary tableware, for storage or even food preservation.
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Just in front the design group: The collection is all set
Day #10 of the A Gente Transforma project has come and gone here in the village of Várzea Queimada, part of the Jaicós municipality. And the good news from AGT’s Design Group is that the collection created in conjunction with the village artisans has already been defined.
The collection is made up of over 10 product families, totaling about 30 pieces: baskets, lamps, masks, rugs, fruit bowls, rings, necklaces and other decorative objects.
The design process behind these items, coordinated by Marcelo Rosenbaum and Pedro Ferreira and Rita João, the Portuguese designer duo behind Pedrita Studio, was born from research and observation of traditional techniques and local artifacts, such as the surrão and the bogoió – straw baskets used in the transportation and storage of foods farmed by the villagers or purchased in markets throughout the region.
Marcelo, Rita and Pedro chose to base this collection on large objects. One of the factors that defined the scale of these items was the straw weaving and finishing techniques mastered by the village craftswomen.
Along with their work in creating the collection, AGT’s Design Group has gone ahead with systematizing and organizing its production. Together the Várzea Queimada United Women Association, they defined patterns for cutting the carnauba palm straw and also the varying widths of the weaves made by the women.
in AGT’s blog
Any was part of the Prêt-a-porter collection by Piodão Group that also included designs from Zaven and The Office.
in EXD’11 website
Curator
Jonathan Olivares
Graphic and Exhibition Design
Jonathan Olivares Design Research
Assistant Curator
Jerôme Nelet
Represented
Kleenex, Volvo, Swann-Morton, Mark Gonzales, American Apparel, Achille Castiglioni, Steelcase, Konstantin Grcic, Franz Anton Bustelli, Philippe Starck, Siemens
The Wandering Pain
Curator
Max Bruinsma and Hans Maier-Aichen
Assistant Curator
Matthias Leipholz
Exhibition Design
Hans Maier-Aichen and Max Bruisma with António Pedro Louro, Gonçalo Prudêncio, Pedro Ferreira and Rita João
Graphic Design
Vivóeusébio
Represented designers
Alessandro Mendini, Atelier Van Lieshout, Barbara Visser, Daniel Eatock, Hans Maier-Aichen, Hella Jongerius, Jaime Hayon, Julia Lohmann, Jurgen Bey, Karen Ryan, Katharina Wahl, Marc Newson, Marcel Wanders, Marijn Van Der Poll, Marti Guixé, Michele de Lucci, Philippe Starck, Ron Arad, Stephane Barbier Bouvet, Stefano Giovannoni, Tejo Remy, Tord Boontje
