Our Land is the sea, the sensitive construction of the coastline

The Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon reopens an exhibition dedicated to the sea, and the implications that human activity has on it.

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Romina Totaro
18 June 2020
Lisbon, Portugal
exhibition
2020

At the Centro Cultural de Belém, the Lisbon gallery dedicated to architecture, reopens the exhibition “Our Land Is the Sea – The sensitive construction of the coastline”, after a period of unexpected closure due to measures against covid-19. Curated by André Tavares and Miguel Figueira, the exhibition is an invitation to overturn the usual point of view towards the horizon, and to think, on the contrary, about the land view of the sea. The inversion of the field has as its objective to make us reflect on the repercussions that human action has on one of the most critical areas of the planet: the sea.

Our Land Is the Sea. Photo Tiago Casanova

What can we, then, learn from a perspective that, instead of contemplating the horizon, examines the relationships between natural forces, human activities, and the balance of ecosystems? “This architecture exhibition does not present beautiful buildings” says co-curator Tavares, “but shows how architecture helps us understand that the sea is a place we all inhabit.”

Organized in the different sections – Sensitive Line, Sand, Rock, City, High, Shore, Legislation and Surf – through films, architectural models, archive drawings, historical books, photographs, infographics, miniatures of boats and video-installations are collected examples concentrated mainly, but not only, on the Portgoghese coast. The various observations then converge in a final summary which is presented in two project proposals for the coastal town of Figueira da Foz. These projects reveal how architectural thinking is fundamental to determine and transform the relationship between the city and the sea.

Our Land Is the Sea – The sensitive construction of the coastlin
Centro Culturale de Belém, Lisbon
10 march - 17 january 2020

Photo José Pedro Alvarez

Surfing and the city, Figueira da Foz, Gliding Barnacles, 2016

Illustration of the “Sea of Sand” proposal to Figueira da Foz, 2011

Pedro Bandeira, Lifeguard lookout and Wind Lift I, Emder Hafen

Illustration of the “Sea of Sand” proposal to Figueira da Foz, 2011

Pedro Bandeira, Lifeguard lookout and Wind Lift I, Emder Hafen

Ernesto Veiga de Oliveira and Fernando Galhano, boat and house, from the book, 1964

Alberto Cruz, Figueira da Foz, 1950. Municipal Photographic Archive of Figueira da Foz

Photo Tiago Casanova