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Review: Architecture Triennale, Lisbon

Review: Architecture Triennale

LISBON (PT) - Let's Talk About Houses is the title of the second Lisbon Architecture Triennale, which opened in mid-October. This theme fits in a wider trend in which the focus no longer emphasizes the conceptual, pseudo-scientific or spectacular architecture, and instead centres on more everyday needs. Of course, this is a development that has to do with the economic crisis that we have been experiencing for over two years now.

'A house… is the representation of an idea of belonging; it is an exudation of those who live in it, changing, transforming, modifying, and subverting the plan,' states head curator Delfim Sardo. So the discussion and exhibition was to be on the presupposed conflict between designer and user.

The main exhibition, in the Museu Colecção Berardo, bore the sub-theme Between North and South, Portugal being 'in between'. The exhibition centred mainly around depicting the influence of different cultures, climates and social circumstances on the living environment: in Portugal itself, in Brazil and Africa (i.e. former Portuguese colonies), in Scandinavia and in Switzerland.

Especially interesting was the exhibition Alison & Peter Smithson – Regarding the House of the Future (provided by the architecture faculty of Delft Technical University, Netherlands), built around a selection of experimental projects the Smithsons produced in 1956, at the beginnings of their careers. Whereas a 'house of the future' nowadays is mostly a showcase of technical ingeniousness, the Smithsons were researching – in a ludic manner – the relationship between living processes and spatial form.

Exciting, too, was the concept for the presentation of the Portuguese (private) houses, shown not with polished photographs of carefully stylized interiors, but in a fully 'inhabited' state, including clothing thrown around in disarray. And apart from the models and photos, there were also speakers, integrated in the walls, out of which one could hear the experiences of users.

The part of the exhibition on other countries was much less interesting. On the one hand, because there were hardly any houses to be seen, only offices, theatres and cultural centres (the exhibitions on Scandinavia and Switzerland), and on the other, because the context for these projects was quite unclear, to the point that one could not see if it was about a new or existing building (e.g. Brazil).

This lack of context also played a part in the second exhibition, in the Museu da Electricidade, where the results of two competitions were presented. Cova da Moura Project was a student competition for a suburb in Lisbon where problems, such as the presence of illicit drugs, have been going on for some time. By no means it was clarified what spatial problem was to be solved in the proposed plans, or how we could 'learn from the unplanned' (apparently the neighbourhood was built illegally), as the curator suggested.

The international competition A House for Luanda (in the former Portuguese colony of Angola) was much more to the point and concrete. The assignment was to design a cheap (max. € 25,000) DIY house that would suit the local climate, following the 'patio and pavilion' model the Smithsons used in their Home of the Future. The proposed houses were basic, but had a surprisingly spatial quality. As to whether the winning plan will actually be built as intended is uncertain.

Finally, in the Museu do Chiado, there was a third exhibition, When art speaks architecture: building, unbuilding, inhabit, which included, among other things, installations referring to Le Corbusier's Villa Savoie and Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona chairs. Was there a relationship with housing? Not really, but then that wasn't the intention of this Triennale. After all, the exhibition was not concerned with drawing conclusions, but rather about starting a dialogue. Let's talk about houses (not let's build houses).

This state of uncertainty, with lots of talking and little action, is in fact an exact reflection of the state that Europe, the building sector and architecture are in right now. The economic crisis is long from over. And although there has been a great deal of discussion regarding the 'good' aspects of such a crisis – it offers time for reflection, contemplation, newness, and the development of a truly sustainable architecture – we don't see any of that just yet. As Peter Cook (curator of the Scandinavian section of the main exhibition) put it: 'At this time, architects are still much too busy surviving.' So maybe this is a promise for the next Triennale.

The Lisbon Architecture Triennale will be ongoing until 16 January 2011.