CARTHA
The history of every city, the phenomena surrounding it, are tied to an infiniteness of circumstances that directly or indirectly define its destiny and, by consequence, its form. Boundless growth, prosperity, abandonment and destruction, among many other events constantly shape cities, in a process where the reality settled by the past and the expectations of […]
The history of every city, the phenomena surrounding it, are tied to an infiniteness of circumstances that directly or indirectly define its destiny and, by consequence, its form. Boundless growth, prosperity, abandonment and destruction, among many other events constantly shape cities, in a process where the reality settled by the past and the expectations of the future define in the present an always-evolving form; that as André Tavares said, form is “where everything comes together”, but it is not everything.
Reflections on the Form of Cities intertwine in this last issue of CARTHA’s cycle on the Form of Form. The issue consists of two complementary sets of contributions; one where Lisbon served as a base for a selected group of international architects to design and reinterpret a stripe of the current city. Based on Parallel Realities, without social, political or natural restrains of any kind, the results show the unimpeded character of these architects and force us to look at Lisbon through their eyes, speculating on the present and, precisely because of that, perceiving it with renewed attention.
In addition, a series of contributions resulting from an open call for papers, takes us into similar journeys where the designs confront the issue’s topic not only with Lisbon, but with a number of different cities and situations. From a 37 million metropolis [1] to the eternal city [2], these contributions offer us a vast palette of reflections on the shaping of the city that complete the overall reflection of the issue, while being more direct in the confrontation they offer with the concepts contained in the analysed forms.
Lisboa Paralela marks the broadening of our awareness towards the form of the city through the lenses of all the contributions we gather here. It is the last of three issues on the Form of Form but it is not the end of our relation with it, it is but the beginning of a more informed and curious one.
Lisboa Paralela was published on the 8th of December, alongside the vernissage of the second exhibition of the “CARTHA on The Form of Form” cycle, at the Mãe d’Água das Amoreiras. All three issues of the cycle (How to Learn Better, Architecture of the City. A Palimpsest and Lisboa Paralela were exhibited. This exhibition was part of the official program of the 2016 Lisbon Architecture Triennial’ closing week.