UBI professor is curator of the Portugal Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale
Project by Andreia Garcia was selected in a limited competition organized by the Directorate-General for Arts
The “Fertile Futures” project, presented by curator Andreia Garcia, from the Architectural Affairs office and professor at the University of Beira Interior (UBI), will represent Portugal at the next edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale, which will take place between May 20 and September 26. November under the theme “The Laboratory of the Future”. The chief curator is Scottish-Ghanaian architect and writer Lesley Lokko.
Selected within the scope of a limited competition promoted by the Directorate-General for Arts, “Fertile Futures” will defend «the pertinence of the contribution of Architecture in the redesign of a decarbonized, decolonized and collaborative future, responding directly to Lesley Lokko’s call, starting from a learning that summons the African context, like others that have long witnessed extreme climatic conditions», justifies DGArtes in a note sent to O INTERIOR. The proposal for the Portugal Pavilion intends to reflect on «the scarcity of fresh water from the national territory». Andreia Garcia was chosen by a jury made up of Paulo Carretas, senior technician at DGArtes and coordinator; Joaquim Moreno, Isabel Ortins Simões Raposo, Julia Albani and Nuno Grande.
Andreia Garcia is a professor of Architectural Design at the Faculty of Engineering at UBI, a role that she has accumulated, since last year, as the vice-president of the same faculty. She holds a PhD from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon, with the thesis “Espaço Cénico, Arquitetura e Cidade”, which earned her the Manuel Tainha Prize and was published in a book in 2016. Her curatorial experience includes the Bienal de Arte Contemporânea da Maia (2019), Smaller Cities (Guimarães European Capital of Culture, 2012), and the Memory Project (Centenary of Theatro Circo de Braga, 2015). She was part of the Guimarães European Capital of Culture 2012 teams and was part of Guarda’s candidacy for European Capital of Culture in 2027.
The Portuguese Pavilion will be located in the Franchetti Palace, located on the banks of the Grand Canal in Venice. According to DGArtes, the Portuguese exhibition will focus «on seven Portuguese hydrogeographies» deeply marked by anthropocentric action, having been invited by seven ateliers, in collaboration with seven other renowned specialists (geographers, landscape architects, anthropologists and environmental engineers ), «the proportion of reservoirs of the future». They are Space Transcribers and Álvaro Domingues (Tâmega); Dulcinea Santos and João Pedro Matos Fernandes (Douro); Guida Marques and Érica Castanheira (Tejo); Pedrez Studio and Aurora Carapinha (Alqueva); Corpo Atelier and Eglantina Monteiro (Mira); Ilhéu Atelier and João Mora Porteiro (Sete Cidades); and Ponto Atelier and Ana Salgueiro Rodrigues (Madeira).