A “visual utopia” that Jan Kamensky created for Lisbon
The “digital gardener” passed through Lisbon in July and enlivened a dream in Largo da Madalena, downtown, which you can see (and hear) now.
Jan Kamensky is a German who presents himself as a “digital gardener”. Its job is to make us dream of different cities and, for that, produce “visual utopias”. Taking photographs and videos, and making use of his graphic design skills, Jan has been animating squares and city streets, exchanging cars for different people, trams, bicycles, trees… Now it was Lisbon’s turn.
The invitation for Jan Kamensky to come to the Portuguese capital was made by the activist collective Lisbon Possible and the environmental association ZERO, as you can read better in this article. Jan the community investigated at the end of July, throughout the community interested in the Biblioteca dos Coruchéus, and after that, with Ksenia Ashrafullina, from Lisboa Possível, toured the city of Lisbon in search of the best place to transform.
The chosen place turned out to be Largo da Madalena, downtown. Jan traded the noisy, smoky cars for a square full of trees, flowers, birds, and most of all, people. There is water and there is also a tram. It is important to think that all this is a utopia in order to make us think.
You can see the before and after, as well as the full animation below:
“We had three days in Lisbon looking for a place. And it was harder than we expected. We wanted a corner that would be recognizable to both Lisboners and the Portuguese in general, and also to the general public”explains to us Ksenia. “Our idea is to have an impact on the interior [em Portugal] and also abroad. We really wanted to put Lisbon in everyone’s eyes.” Consider other options such as the Marquês de Pombal roundabout or Avenida da Liberdade, but here, as there are trees, “the contrast between the bad and the good was not that great”. “We also saw other streets downtown, but found it a bit claustrophobic.”
Largo da Madalena was suggested by Twitter and one of the last places that Jan and Ksenia visited. “There I realized that it had to be my object of work. That square shows the city environment in a compact way in a relatively small space. On the one hand, the city carries a unique beauty. On the other hand, it is confronted with the problems of the present time. This place epitomizes that in an excellent way!”tell us Jan. “I incorporated the conversations and insights I received from my visit to Lisbon into the animation. The result is a narrative that I hope Lisboners will enjoy.”
About Lisbon, Jan tells us that he found a city not very suitable for pedestrian mobility, with “too narrow” and with little understanding on the part of motorists for this situation; the German designer and animator still got the impression that the pedestrians are on the “underneath the integrity of the infrastructure of the city. Jan functions for seconded persons with mobility of cars, and“the airport is very central”) and very narrow streets that sometimes affect the mobility of trams.
The launch of this “visual utopia” takes place this September 7th, not by chance. Lisboa Possível and ZERO applied and won a small amount of funding from the Urban Movement Innovation Fund, designed for innovative projects and carbonization participation. And this 7th is the International Clean Air Day, designated in 2019 by the United Nations General Assembly and cherished by this fund. The idea of Lisboa Possível and ZERO is to use this work by Jan as inspiration for the creation of a “pop-up” Super Neighborhood in Lisbon; in principle, it will be on the 23rd of September in Largo das Flores, in the parish of Misericórdia.
Discover Jan Kamensky’s work here.