LISBOSCÓPIO
Project by Amâncio (Pancho) Guedes and Ricardo Jacinto
Curator Claudia Taborda
Opening 7 September, 5pm
Giardini della Bienalle / Esedra
www.iartes.pt/bienalveneza2006
Visitors to the 10th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale may be surprised to find that the Portuguese representation is located at the heart of the Giardini della Biennale, in the Esedra space which for the first time in the Biennales history will be hosting a national participation.
The official Portuguese representation, organized by the Instituto das Artes, of the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, is curated by the landscape architect Claudia Taborda.
Starting out from the general theme for this years event, Cities, architecture and society, the curator invited the architects Amâncio (Pancho) Guedes and Ricardo Jacinto to design a piece for the Biennale Gardens in which they could experiment with living space in an allusion to life in the city.
The result is LISBOSCÓPIO, a device that lends itself to a twofold exploration and transitory experience, of place and of work-as-installation.
The construction of the piece uses temporary materials frequently associated with signs heralding the transformation of the city, and Lisbon, as a city and region, served as inspiration for the design process.
LISBOSCÓPIO provides the visitor with the experience of passage as a construction of the moment and fragmented space. The aim is to act on perception, individual or collective, offering an inventive experience of performative living, emphasised by a tubular structure which also produces sound.
Amâncio (Pancho) Guedes (Lisbon, 1925) and Ricardo Jacinto (Lisbon, 1975) understand architecture as an open-ended and non-exclusive discipline, taking advantage of artistic creation as a possibility for extending architectural practices which, as the curator explains, underline the fact that architecture is a timeless process of free creation for the space to live in”.
LISBOSCÓPIO is also a book, an extension of the piece installed in Venice, with contributions from architecture and art critics and practitioners: Hugo Brito, Ricardo Carvalho, Jorge Figueira, João Gomes da Silva, Nuno Grande, Cedric Green, Joaquim Moreno, Nuno Portas, Nuno Ribeiro, Miguel Santiago e Delfim Sardo.
After Venice, LISBOSCÓPIO will make a series of appearances, touring to cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Madrid.
Organization
Instituto das Artes / Portuguese Ministry of Culture
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Colateral exhibiton
HABITAR PORTUGAL 2003-2005
The Portuguese Instituto das Artes, together with the Ordem dos Arquitectos, will also present in Venice the exhibition “Habitar Portugal 2003-2005″.
“Habitar Portugal” is a selection of 18 works by Portuguese architects built between 2003 and 2005. This presentation, especially designed for the Venice Biennale, is a selection from a recent national survey, showing part of what Portuguese architecture is today from small to large scale projects, from singular houses to public spaces. The showcase includes works of Siza Vieira, Souto de Moura, Gonçalo Byrne, João Mendes Ribeiro, Manuel Graça Dias and Egas José Vieira among others.
For further information :
www.iartes.pt/bienalveneza2006
e-mail us: gabcom@iartes.pt