Post no4 | Why is it important to read space and give it meaning?

The ability to read territorial forms, as well as to understand the “updates” of the meaning of these forms, allows us to correct problems of spatial inscription of collective identity, of urban conflicts, among many other issues.

The genesis of form, or morphogenesis, is a “thickness” of meanings, which unfolds topologically. Morphogenesis allows us to access issues related to shape’s latency, such as:

1. Symbolic Forms, which allow us to access our collective identity and “heal” neighbourhoods where this function is problematic.

In?the?case?of?the?Salpétrière?district?in?Paris,?we?have?a?space?previously?understood?morphologically?as?a?hospital?“island”,?where?the?functions?of?hospice,?prison?and?asylum?for?the?displaced?generated?repulsive?urban?dynamics?around?it,?which?today?translate?into?a?sense?of?insecurity.

Architectural?intervention?should?then?understand?this?identity?dimension,?inscribed?in?urban?forms,?and?consider?it?as?an?“urban?symptom”.

The?riverside?area?of?Lisbon?is?one?of?the?examples?of?how?the?collective?memory?of?the?Portuguese?has?progressively?disconnected?from?its?relationship?with?the?river,?a?consequence?of?the?disappearance?of?the?golden?age?of?the?great?discoveries?of?the?14thto?18th?centuries?and?the?construction?of?industrial?structures?along?the?banks?from?the?Tagus?River,?fuelled?by?the?ideas?of?progress?of?the?Industrial?Revolution.?The?project?for?the?1998?international?exhibition?was?an?opportunity?to?rethink?the?relationship?between?the?Portuguese?and?their?history,?and?their?collective?memory.?The?urban?project?for?Expo?98?reconnected?Lisbon?inhabitants?to?their?relationship?with?the?river?and?served?as?the?basis?for?the?numerous?projects?developed?in?the?decades?that?followed?and?which?reconstructed?this?relationship?with?the?Tagus?River.

2. Sociocultural Forms, which allow us to unravel and deal with urban conflicts when they have a territorial origin at their root.

Examples?of?areas?like?Martim?Moniz,?in?Lisbon,?and?that?of?the?“les?Halles”?forum?in?Paris,?were?the?central?markets?of?these?cities?for?many?centuries.?The?construction?of?shopping?centres?in?these?spaces?of?great?social?and?cultural?intensity?led?to?their?transfiguration?into?places?of?confluence?of?major?urban?violence,?especially?at?night.?These?examples?show?how?important?it?is?to?read?the?space?of?architectural?intervention?and?the?analysis?of?urban?conflicts,?prior?to?the?architectural?project?itself.?Both?projects?were?an?opportunity?to?solve?the?urban?problems?latent?in?these?places,?and?to?potentially?avoid?the?disastrous?consequences?that?today?define?the?areas?of?Martim?Moniz?and?“les?Halles”.

3. Territorial Forms allow us to read the identity dimension and conflicts inscribed in urban forms as underlying or latent dynamics in urban space, which should be looked at as symptoms of a latent dysfunction.

In?this?context,?reading?the?space?and?reinvesting?it?with?new?meanings?is?a?fundamentalactivity?to?successfully?nurture?community?living.

Frank?Gehry's?Guggenheim?Museum?project?in?Bilbao?is?an?example?of?a?project?that?hasgiven?new?meanings?to?the?identity?of?an?entire?city.?Bilbao?was?previously?a?post-industrial?city?without?much?interest,?becoming?an?unavoidable?city,?of?cultural?and?architectural?interest,?after?a?well?thought-out?urban?and?architectural?plan.

In?this?sense,?it?is?indisputable?that?recognizing?the?forms?that?already?exist?and?reinvesting?the?spaces?of?meaning?is?a?fundamental?activity?of?any?architectural?and?urban?intervention.