The Técnico students Bárbara Fonseca, Carolina Claro, Francisco Gomes and João Aires Neves were the winners of the Lisbon Triennale Millennium BCP Universities Award, which is part of the 5th Lisbon Architecture Triennale, for their work “An Inverted Spectator”.
“The opportunity to apply for this competition came up through our professors Ricardo Gordon Pedro Sousa and Pedro Domingos (Project IV course unit), who decided to adopt the topic of this competition to second semester project (4th Year)”, explains Bárbara Fonseca, on behalf of the team.
The challenge was very clear, as Francisco Gomes explains: “how the rational nature of construction can embody a form of natural beauty”. “The challenge was to think of an architectural solution that values the practice of constructive rationality based on thought and design, capable of uniting all elements and parts of the project, in order to achieve an understandable organic system shared by all”, says the student. The aim of the competition was to conceive a Community and Interpretive Centre, considering the metropolitan dimension, specific to the future condition of Marvila.
“An Inverted Spectator” was based on “the search for a free, easy, organic and rationally organised atmosphere and also on the search for a repetition of constructed elements”. “Inverted” results from the design requirements. “Spectator” refers to all of us. It also refers to those who might live in that space, the place itself and the city. Spectators of all this system/structure that, at certain times, also plays the role of spectator with regard to its elements”, says João Aires Neves.
Visibly happy with their work and victory, the students stressed the importance of participating in such competitions. Carolina Claro shares the group’s feeling about the valuable input of “working towards the same goals”.
Besides the winning team, seven more projects “made in” Técnico were selected by the jury, in a total of twelve finalists. The team members consider that this was a “remarkable achievement” of our school. “We strongly believe in the quality of Técnico professors and in the future of students”, said Francisco Gomes.
