ORA COLLECTIVE
Why do we work on Public Space? Are we working for it or are we using it as a medium for our own endeavours? It’s not about us, it’s not about the art. It’s about reality, really.
Public Space interventions are really in, right now. But why are we doing it? What are our goals, what are our criteria? What is our purpose?
Reality is interesting enough as it is and it’s about that we should be working: bringing reality back to the spotlight. Public intervention should, thus, help create critical thinking about the space we live in, help promote a collective sense of responsibility about our own reality.
By making reality’s processes intelligible as they are – i.e., with no predefined conception of what’s right and wrong about it – everyday users of space (so yeah, everyone) get a chance to reposition themselves in a reality that is so well-known, that it became numb. Whatever we choose to do (or not to do), it should be an actual choice, not the result of a lack of engagement.
Interventions should be a means to an end, not the end itself: it’s about an approach strategy, rather than the material result. It is, in principle, ephemeral. It’s reality that’s permanent.
Why do we work on Public Space? Are we working for it or are we using it as a medium for our own endeavours? It’s not about us, it’s not about the art. It’s about reality, really.
Public Space interventions are really in, right now. But why are we doing it? What are our goals, what are our criteria? What is our purpose?
Reality is interesting enough as it is and it’s about that we should be working: bringing reality back to the spotlight. Public intervention should, thus, help create critical thinking about the space we live in, help promote a collective sense of responsibility about our own reality.
By making reality’s processes intelligible as they are – i.e., with no predefined conception of what’s right and wrong about it – everyday users of space (so yeah, everyone) get a chance to reposition themselves in a reality that is so well-known, that it became numb. Whatever we choose to do (or not to do), it should be an actual choice, not the result of a lack of engagement.
Interventions should be a means to an end, not the end itself: it’s about an approach strategy, rather than the material result. It is, in principle, ephemeral. It’s reality that’s permanent.
TIAGO ASCENSÃO
199O, Oporto. Is currently finishing master degree at Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto, researching the meaning of time in architecture. Was part of an interchange programme, having studied in 2012 at Technische Universität Berlin - School of Architecture (TU Berlin) and at Universität der Kunst, Berlin. Attended the residency CinemArchitecture Timeless Space, in Tallin, Estonia, the workshop Arquitetura, Paisaje y Arqueología, at the Tiermes archeological station, in Soria and Valladolid, Spain and the Seminário Internacional de Arquitectura João Álvaro Rocha 2015, rehabilitation of Bairro do Sobreiro, Maia, Portugal. Got several honnorable mentions: in the Go!Architecture v05 Oficinas Sociais contest; in the Concurso Ibérico de Soluções para Construção PLADUR Colonização de Estruturas and in the Go!Architecture v02 Cinemateca dos Guindais contest. Was part of the Práctica(s) de Arquitectura collective, producing the internacional conference cicle Prática(s) de Arquitectura - Projeto | Investigação | Escrita and creating a research team (2012). Attended the 3rd edition of PechaKucha Fundão, in the HAAlpedrinha.05 collective. Since 2013 works as a collaborator at Serôdio, Furtado Arquitectos. http://cargocollective.com/tiagoascensao/ [email protected] | +351 917839801 |
ORLANDO GILBERTO-CASTRO
1989, Oporto. Finished master degree at Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto, with the thesis O sujeito não especializado: a instalação efémera como estímulo perceptivo para a habitação plurifamiliar (2014), about the non-specialized individual and ephemeral installations as a perceptive tool. Debuted as creator and performer with the piece Sem Título 01, performance presented as part of the cicle Variações da Cultura, at Teatro Municipal Rivoli (2014). Was a member of the production and research teams of the international conference cicle Prática(s) de Arquitectura – Projecto | Investigação | Escrita (2012) and attended several workshops, like Porto Redux ou (re)habitar a cidade (2008), Arquitectura Humanitária (2009) and Espaço Cénico (2011). Was part of an interchange programme at ETSAM ETSAM - Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (2012). Works in amateur theater since 2005. Is a member of the Direction Board of TUP - Teatro Universitário do Porto since 2013, working as a performer since 2011, having worked with Cláudio da Silva, Victor Hugo Pontes, Gonçalo Amorim, Joana Providência, among others. Worked as a scenographer, with Marta Pereira and Tiago Ascensão, with whom also built the installation ESCORA, which was part of the Torres Vedras’ Internacional Public Art Festival (2014). http://orlandogilbertocastro.weebly.com/ [email protected] | +351 916031726 |