The 6th Lisbon Architecture Triennale, chaired by José Mateus and chief-curated by Cristina Veríssimo and Diogo Burnay, poses itself as an international open forum that is both a declaration of intent and a call to action. By observing and analysing the complex layers beneath our territories, cities, landscapes and communities, all included in the word terra - which is also the chosen title and stands for either Earth or soil in Italian - this Triennale proposes a shift from a “linear growth model”, marked by an excessive use of resources that can be associated to the concept of “cities as machines”, towards a circular and holistic evolutionary model, translated into “cities as organisms”. “Terra” addresses how climate changes and challenges, the pressure on resources, and how socioeconomic and environmental inequities are deeply intertwined. It does so through an ecosystem of exhibitions, talks and publications that will be accessible to the public for three months.
“Terra” addresses how climate changes and challenges, the pressure on resources, and how socioeconomic and environmental inequities are deeply intertwined [...] through an ecosystem of exhibitions, talks and publications that will be accessible to the public for three months.
The critical enquiry around research and practice, along with the exploration of new paradigms that are “changing our ways of place-making in a globalised Planet”, brings together KoozArch and the Lisbon Triennale. We will share with our readers the state of the art of some pressing topics of our present, such as cross-disciplinary visions to change the world, current multiscalar answers to contemporary global issues, ways to repair broken cities and radical circularity, all addressed by scholars, practitioners, students and professionals invited to share their knowledge and experience during the event.
The critical enquiry around research and practice, along with the exploration of new paradigms that are “changing our ways of place-making in a globalised Planet”, brings together KoozArch and the Lisbon Triennale.
The Triennale is open from September 29th until December 5th, 2022. It is presented with a programme of four main exhibitions – “Multiplicity”, “Retroactive”, “Cycles”, “Visionaries”, each held in a different venue – a selection of Independent Projects, three days of talks – “Talk, Talk, Talk” on October 26, 27, 28 – three awards and the publication of four books.
“Multiplicity”, held at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Lisbon (MNAC) and curated by Tau Tavengwa, founder of Cityscape, and Indian anthropologist Vyjayanthi Rao, examines the contemporary structures in which design and architecture operate - including extreme inequality, pandemics and climate change - in order to reconsider what defines them. “Visionaries” will take place at the Culturgest in Lisbon and is curated by Russian designer and researcher Anastassia Smirnova with the Dutch office for architecture and urbanism SVESMI. It will focus on visions by architects, artists, designers and scientists that propose alternative scenarios for future actions to tackle the world’s problems.
“Cycles”, curated by Chilean art curator Pamela Prado and Chilean architect and professor Pedro Ignacio Alonso, is held at the Garagem Sul museum and looks at how architectural matter transforms itself through cycles. It focuses on the “art of designing cycles, considering the energy, the water, the human labour, and the carbon footprint originally embedded in the materials’ production, towards sustainability, economy, and memory.” The fourth exhibition, “Retroactive”, will be held at the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) in Lisbon and is curated by Mexican architects and founders of Taller Capital Loreta Castro Reguera and Jose Pablo Ambrosi. It brings to the attention of the architects the deteriorated and underserved infrastructure, also referred to as “retroactive infrastructure”, that represents an opportunity to remediate the “broken city” and propose solutions to the inhabitants.
The 16 Independent Projects, selected from 67 applicants will be showcased in different locations including the Palácio Sinel de Cordes with independent and self-financed national and international proposals that intersect the Triennale’s main themes. As for the Awards, they include the Universities Award Competition, with applicants from universities worldwide that have somewhat produced knowledge “in, for and on” architecture; the Début Award, recognizing and promoting the achievements of a young architect or firm with architects under 35, and the Lifetime Achievement Award that this year will be assigned to Aga Khan-winner architect Marina Tabassum.
