International design seminar. Lisbon July 23 – August 1, 2012

In the past 25 years, numerous design experiences have investigated the reconversion of decommissioned port areas as unique opportunities for urban development, not only to reinforce a hoped-for contact between the city and the water but also to introduce new activities that can enrich and make urban life attractive. This process, initiated in the 1990s with the construction – along the banks of the Tagus River – of the Belém Cultural Centre to the west and the EXPO district to the east, has recently been accelerated with the agreement between the Lisbon municipal government and the port authority to grant access to most of the nineteen linear kilometers of coastline of wharves, docks, warehouses and terminals that can handle one of the most voluminous movements of goods and passengers in Europe. A first project for a new cruise terminal (250,000 passengers per year) by Joao Carrilho da Graça has stimulated debate on the future of the possible relations between the attractive old town, now marginal to the dynamics of the metropolitan population, and opportunities produced by the port area. Giving shape to a project for public space (parks and gardens) – imagined by the City of Lisbon to provide continuity among the historical nuclei, from Marvila to Poço do Bispo, present along the eastern side of the city – means rethinking a new image in which elements of the urban landscape such as the São Jorge castle and São Vicente de Fora monastery can re-emerge.

ACTIVITIES/ PROGRAMME The seminar will be divided into four parts: territory knowledge and more specifically of the project area; in-depth analysis of the technical and theoretical aspects of the problem in question; planning laboratories in study groups and general discussions; work exposition and communication of the results to the public.

REGISTRATION The seminar is designed mainly for newly graduates and students in architecture, yet also proposed to technicians and professionals as a moment of work updating. The 100 hour seminar is part of the Continuing Formation programme of the Barcelona UPC. Attendance implies attainment of the “Remaking Landscapes” attendance Certificate. The 10 ETCS credits are also spendable within the programme of the Barcelona UPC Masters in Landscape Architecture which ACMA has been organising as of 2009 in Milan.

http://www.masterpaesaggio.it/en/seminario-rifare-paesaggi-lisbona-2012-lisbon-waterfront