"when I first came to portugal, a friend told me a story about the azulejos. according to it, in the 16th century, as vasco de gama opened a new route to asia, portugal started new commercial trades with china, then under the 'ming dynasty'. while they were struggling back home to protect the façade of the buildings from the harsh oceanic climate and its salty rain storms, the far east explorers discovered the high quality of chinese ceramics. there used to make pots and bowls, which apparently resisted extremely well to the daily use of salty soup, they thought it would be a good idea to import this technique to make those ceramics a façade material. finally, azulejos pattern influences where just cultural vehicles for a universal and very pragmatic goal : resist to salt water.
this story might or might not be entirely true – we all know the complexity of influences of techniques throughout history – it still tells us that the atmospheres of porto, like any city in the world, emerge maybe more from particular objective constraints, basic physics and strategies for environmental management.
in this studio, we are exploring this definition in a contemporary context, trying to invent spaces emerging from portuense atmospheric qualities, looking for extremes and oppositions in the specific parameters of climate.
first, students choose one of those parameters : heat, light, humidity, ventilation, noise. then look for, in porto, various opposed urban or interior situations that reflect this particular quality. one space with high radiation, another one where surrounding materials absorbs your radiation. one humid space, and a dry one. an area with poor spectrum light, another one with a good cri…
it is their duty to extract from these situations, through very precise cad drawings and photos, the material elements responsible for their atmosphere. we are aiming for the simplest devices, the modern mundane equipment or archaic forms that define those qualities.
finally, students rebuild these contrasted situations in one elementary composition, a very direct way to divide – or dissolve – space. these 20 projects are assembled in a new abstract context as a simple collection, a city of captive atmospheres of porto."
captive atmospheres of porto por nicholas dorval-bory
parâmetro: qualidade do espectro da luz
indirect sunset light on facade | low pressure sodium light on facade
projeto de atmosferas proposto
situações de atmosferas extremas
indirect sunset light on facade 41°08’57.9"N - 8°38’03.7”W
atmosfera captada | indirect sunset light on facade |
low pressure sodium light on facade 41°08’57.9"N - 8°38’03.7”W
atmosfera captada | low pressure sodium light on facade |
parâmetro: qualidade do espectro da luz
diffused sunlight through a red umbrella | direct led light on a red column
projeto de atmosferas proposto
situações de atmosferas extremas
diffused sunlight through a red umbrella 41°08’30.52”N - 8°36’53.65”W
atmosfera captada | diffused sunlight through a red umbrella |
direct led light on a red column 41°08’36.65”N - 8°36’52.61”W
atmosfera captada | direct led light on a red column |