Close, Closer, the third Lisbon Architecture Triennale will put forward an alternative reading of contemporary spatial practice. For three months chief curator Beatrice Galilee and curators Liam Young, Mariana Pestana and José Esparza Chong Cuy will examine the multiple possibilities of architectural output through critical and experimental exhibitions, events, performances and debates across the city. During the Triennale, architecture will be portrayed as a living, social and artistic force, charting cultural, political, scientific and aesthetic territories. By largely excluding built-form of architectural practice and focusing on alternatives the Triennale is responding to a shifting economic and social climate in which traditional modes of architectural production are changing and where innovation is breeding fast.

The Lisbon Architecture Triennale is a non-profit association whose mission is to research, foster and promote architectural thinking and practice. It holds a major forum every three years for the debate, discussion and dissemination of architecture across geographic and disciplinary boundaries. The first Triennale, "Urban Voids" took place in 2007 with a programme of international exhibitions, competitions and conferences drawing 52,000 visitors and participants. In 2010, "Let’s Talk About Houses" consolidated the Triennale’s presence in the circuit of events devoted to architecture with an estimated 154,000 attendees. Now, from its new headquarters in the Sinel de Cordes Palace, where a creative cluster will be established in the near future, the Triennale is organising a programme of "Intervalo" events while preparing for its third edition, "Close, Closer".

The Lisbon Architecture Triennale (2007 and 2010) was distinguished with the High Patronage of His Excellency the President of the Portuguese Republic and in 2010, it was also awarded the status of Cultural Interest by the Ministry of Culture.

www.trienaldelisboa.com

The Lisbon Triennale Millennium BCP Lifetime Achievement Award will be selected by a team of experts appointed by the Triennale including the chief curator, from a shortlist created by over 50 influential international nominators. The award will be given based on criteria of pre-eminence in contributions to the field of architecture and spatial practice. The award will go to a person or practice whose work and ideas have been influential and continue to have a profound effect on architectural thinking and practice today.

The prize consists in a work commissioned by the Triennale to a contemporary artist. In 2007, the commissioned artist was Pedro Cabrita Reis and in 2010, Rui Chafes.

The previous recipients of the Millennium BCP Lifetime Achivement award are Vittorio Gregotti and Álvaro Siza Vieira.

Establishing close and meaningful relationships between different audiences and authors of contemporary spatial practice is one of the Triennale´s main objectives. This makes the existence of a multidisciplinary educational service vital. The Educational Service is established as an experimental lab, offering activities that complement the main programme in 2013. In doing so it takes on a mediatory role between the community and the substance of the Close, Closer project. Its main building blocks are debate, thinking and creativity.

To be part of the Close, Closer education programme please write to: edu@trienaldelisboa.com

As a Close, Closer volunteers you can have the rewarding experience of making a reference cultural event happen whilst having first hand contact with its content and participants, creatives, curators and critics. We are looking for motivated individuals for the tasks of: production/set-up assistant; exhibition/venue assistant; communication assistant.

Volunteer work encompasses a pre-event period (around four weeks), as well as the duration of the Triennale (12 Sep–15 Dec), in 4-hour shifts. If you are interested, send us your CV, 1 motivational paragraph and your availability (dates/times) at: volunteer@trienaldelisboa.com, by 7 July.

Future Perfect brings together an ensemble of mad scientists, design mavericks, literary astronauts, speculative gamers, visionaries and luminaries to collectively develop the props, spaces, machines, cultures and narratives of a future city, an imaginary urbanism, the landscapes that surround it and the stories it contains.

Wander through our fictional city to explore possibilities and consequences of today’s emerging biological and technological research. What things may come, in a Future Perfect...


PARTICIPANTS:

Bart Hess (NL)
Bruce Sterling (US)
Revital Cohen & Tuur Van Balen (UK)
Factory Fifteen (UK)
Marshmallow Laser Feast (UK)
Neri Oxman (US)
Vincenzo Natali (CA)
Warren Ellis (UK)

The Real and Other Fictions is an exhibition made of interdisciplinary spatial interventions at the scale of 1:1. All installations are fully functional, welcoming the visitor to eat, read, drink and even spend the night. As it explores the uncanny space between reality and fiction, the exhibition presents itself as an artifice composed of real spaces and programmes. It is an exhibition of hyper- real architecture. And it is alive.


PARTICIPANTS:

Alex Schweder (US)
Carlos Vaz Marques (PT)
Carsten Höller (DE)
Friendly Fire (PT)
Kiluanji Kia Henda (AO) & Paulo Moreira (PT)
Maria Fusco (IE)
Onkar Kular (UK) & Noam Toran (US)
The Center for Genomic Gastronomy (NO/US)
Zuloark (ES)

Institutions are the mediators of architectural practice and generators of its discourse. The magazines, journals, websites, galleries, project spaces, archives, libraries and museums all around the world which frame the practice of contemporary architecture, commission and write its future history, are arguably as influential on today’s landscape as the credited authors, the architects. The Institute Effect pays homage to the contemporary institution. Intended as a constantly changing stream of activity, a roster of pioneering institutions will effectively use the ‘Institute’ as an embassy, organising exhibitions, workshops, archives and events.


PARTICIPANTS:

CASCO – Office for Art Design and Theory (NL)
Center for Urban Pedagogy (US)
Design as Politics (NL)
Fabrica (IT)
Institut für Raumexperimente (DE)
Jornal Arquitectos (PT)
LIGA, espacio para arquitectura (MX)
SALT (TR)
Spatial Agency (UK)
Storefront for Art and Architecture (US)
Strelka Institute (RU)
Urban-Think Tank (CH)
Z33 (BE)

Throughout the course of six weeks, New Publics will stage a series of acts in a public square at the city centre which will largely address the concept of civic space, as opposed to public space. Triggering this discourse by using a theatrical voice and setting that challenges the conventional format of professional presentations, the New Publics program frames the powerful tool of voice as the main medium through which we create civic spaces and explores the theatrical public enactment of civic statements to reach broad and diverse audiences.


PARTICIPANTS:

Andrés Jaque (ES)
Artéria (PT)
Damon Rich (US)
Daniel Fernández Pascual (ES)
Estudio SIC (ES)

Fernando García-Dory (ES)
Francisca Benítez (CL)
Frida Escobedo (MX)
Noura Alsayeh (BH)
Nuno Nabais (PT)
Pelin Tan (TK)
Teatro Praga (PT)
Unipop (PT)
Victoria Bugge Øye (NO)

 

We welcome proposals for independently funded projects that directly respond to the theme of Close, Closer. These ideas – from exhibitions to talks and one-off events – will form the fringe events of the 2013 Lisbon Architecture Triennale. The overall theme can be interpreted and appropriated in many ways and we look forward to seeing reactions and ideas for collateral projects and events from all over the world.

The 2013 Lisbon Architecture Triennale will produce six special edition digital publications which will be published over one year. Designed by Zak Group, responsible for all of Close, Closer's identity, these e-books, available online and for all e-readers, collectively intend to locate the theme of plurality in spatial practice into a broader global context.

Each curator will edit one e-book which will compliment and reflect the process of research and investigation for their individual project. The books will commission new writing, original essays and include contributions of participating artists and speakers as well as reproducing the interviews and conversations that informed the curatorial and design process.

The six digital publications will replace the traditional printed catalogue. While there will be printed matter, the Triennale is pushing forward new publishing strategies to establish new formats for communication. These platforms respond to a more open environment for exhibitions and allows the content to be widely disseminated and economically produced.

 

Open to participants of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds, the Crisis Buster Grants were conceived as part of the Close, Closer concept, to engage a diverse mix of agents and entrepreneurs in a drive to fight the crisis through long-term, effective problem-solving solutions. The decisive factor was the project’s ability to respond to a specific problem identified in the Portuguese capital, as well as its potential for future continuation or replication. We were delighted to receive over 150 submissions from 19 countries. The Crisis Buster Grants were awarded by a jury of specialists from Lisbon and abroad, to ten civic and social initiatives tackling specific issues identified in Lisbon. The projects will all be constructed during the period of the Triennale and include funding for a political newspaper, supporting a community kitchen and garden and funding a new youth group in the city.  The jury also commended a further 7 projects hoping to find partners and sponsors to give more Crisis Buster grants in the future. 

The Crisis Buster grants jury:

José Esparza, curator, Close, Closer, Mexico
Graça Fonseca, Municipality of Lisbon, Portugal
Liza Fior, MUF Architecture/Art, United Kingdom
Emiliano Gandolfi, Curry Stone Design Prize / Cohabitation Strategies, Italy
Luísa Valle, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Portugal



CRISIS BUSTER GRANT WINNERS

Beautiful, Low Tech & Do-It-Yourself Solutions
Terrapalha (PT)
An open laboratory set in a Lisbon public garden, this project will carry out practical workshops, discussions and presentations on natural building and alternative energy solutions. For three weeks, the lab will teach low budget, ecological, innovative, do-it-yourself techniques, starting with the construction of a shelter structure that will house the lab itself.

South Entrance - Bairro Alto da Cova da Moura
Associação Cultural O Moinho da Juventude (PT)
South Entrance functions as the starting point for the requalification of the different entrances of Cova da Moura, a run-down, low-income neighbourhood in Lisbon. Working in close collaboration with the locals, the South Entrance project will rehabilitate the site and return it to the community as a functional public space for informal gettogethers or planned activities.

Genius Loci
The Gargantua Collective (PT)
Genius Loci will propose three “restaurant trails” in the vicinity of the Triennale’s main venues, using the event’s guidebook. Unbeknownst to the visitors however, the recommended eateries are under risk of going out of business, due to the crisis. By inviting Triennale visitors to enjoy local eateries, the project allows them to inadvertently play a role in keeping them open for business, while raising awareness to their tangible and intangible heritage.

The Object that wanted to keep being itself
normalearchitettura (IT)
A weeklong workshop where Lisbon artisans or craftsmen together with students learn a number of simple techniques to extend the life and use of everyday objects. At the end of the week, the shop(s) will inherit the content of the activity, becoming reference point for all those interested in acquiring the products or learning the techniques. This initiative proposes to make objects lastlonger, without losing its original function or effectiveness.

Pátio Ambulante (Mobile Patio)
frame collective (PT)
Pátio Ambulante proposes the creation of a pátio-network in Lisbon, working as an exchange platform to stimulate interaction between patio dwellers and users, support local businesses and projects. The network will be connected by an old fire truck “408 pátio unit”, its ambassador and transport unit, which is fitted with an ice-cream store that ensure its economic self-sufficiency. A programme of activities will be carried out to promote the network: an exhibition on the pátio typology in Lisbon, a music installation with a live piano performance and a local swop market market.

A Cozinha da Casa do Vapor (Kitchen of Casa do Vapor)
EXYZT Collective (FR)
Cozinha da Casa do Vapor proposes the construction of a sustainable, communal kitchen at a site developed by EXYZT Collective, as part of an overall strategy of improving quality of life, helping local businesses and propitiating social cohesion. The kitchen will be a site for shared meals but also cooking workshops, looking to drive social interaction through the rituals of preparing and consuming food as a group.

O Espelho
Newspaper "O ESPELHO" (PT)
O Espelho (The Mirror) consist in the publication of two issues of the wall newspaper O Espelho, cladding the walls of Lisbon during the Triennale with content free for all. Freedom of press leads to freedom of thought. O Espelho is a do-it- yourself tool that creates a public space for ideas to circulate, igniting debate. With this “old school” format, it seeks to mirror and reflect upon events taking place presently. Content will focus on aspects related to the urban culture, its architecture and spaces.

Agulha num Palheiro (Needle in a Haystack)
Artéria (PT)
Agulha num Palheiro [Needle in a haystack] is a public platform where the many vacant houses and neglected buildings in Lisbon’s old quarters are collected and systematized. The goal is facilitate the process of identifying, renting or buying of these spaces by prospective dwellers. A visual depiction of this realm of possibilities will be presented in 3 short films, shot in 3 vacant houses from 3 historical periods. They will be released in sequence to spark discussion on the rehabilitation of Lisbon in social networks and media, contributing to build critical mass around the project.

Mundo Mouraria (Mouraria World)
Baga Baga Studios
The project consists of a digital platform to communicate the social business model and community building project “Cozinha Popular da Mouraria” – a communal kitchen located in the multicultural neighbourhood of Mouraria. This platform will document and share the stories that radiate from cooking sessions and meals held at the kitchen, bringing the project to the attention of a vast global audience and putting Lisbon on the map of creative, civic-minded networks. The next step is to give local community members access to digital communication tools and their potential, thus empowering them through the ability to compose and share their own narratives.

Juventude na Street (Youth on the Street)
Inês Neto (PT)
Project Supported by the British Council
The project “Juventude na Street – Youth on the street” aims to create a youth group for girls aged 10 to 17 years old, in the social housing neighbourhood of Horta Nova, a community where youngster are left alone for great parts of the day without adult supervision. The group would provide an alternative, positive occupation where members would participate in activities that stimulate cooperation, assertiveness,problem-solving and social skills. The project foresees the rehabilitation of a communal room in the neighbourhood, with the support of an architect but carried out by the girls, giving them a sense of achievement and responsibility.

The competition invited university students of all nationalities and disciplines to propose an intervention – programmatically or physically - in the Triennale’s headquarters, the 18th century Sinel de Cordes Palace, based on the thematics of the third edition of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Close, Closer. The students were required to examine the expanded field of contemporary architecture - that is the issues, narratives and structure around building, but not necessarily engaged in construction - and to closely consider what it means to exhibit architecture today. The winners intervention will form part of the main programme of Close, Closer and will be constructed in the Lisbon Architecture Triennale headquarters, one of four venues around the city which will form the Triennale. The winners were an interdisciplinary team from London's Royal College of Art. Their project “Fábrica de Sonhos' will be exhibited as a participating project at this year’s Triennale.

The Lisbon Triennale Millenium BCP Universities Competition jury members:

Minsuk Cho, MASS Studies, South Korea
Bjarke Ingels, BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group, Denmark
Mariana Pestana, curator, Close, Closer, Portugal
Philippe Rahm, Philippe Rahm architectes, Switerzland
Luis Santiago Baptista, Arqa Magazine, Portugal


WINNING PROJECT

Fábrica de Sonhos (Dream Factory)
Colectivo Inventado: Astrid Bois d’Enghien (BE), Catarina Vasconcelos (PT), Clio Capeille, (FR/GR); Margarida Rêgo, (PT), Rain Wu (TW) and Simon Kinneir (UK)

Royal College of Art (Architecture, Visual Communication, Design Products)

In response to the Lisbon Triennale’s theme of Close, Closer the project team decided to explore the importance of being close to one’s dreams not as mere utopias, but as a way of looking beyond the present political and economic constraints. Fábrica de Sonhos (Dream Factory) is a process-based project that will involve an in-situ team, operating over 25 days in Lisbon. The project unfolds in two different stages. First, an active collecting of people’s dreams, through an online platform and a physical one travelling the streets of Lisbon for 5 days. This will provide the source material for an installation at the Sinel de Cordes Palace, in the form of a changing landscape of dreams projected on site.


HONORABLE MENTIONS
 

Scripts
Camille Leproust (FR) and Andres Ayerbe Posada (IT)

We don´t need no Education – Chamber of Architectural Diseases
Gabriel Ruiz-Larrea Fernandez, Judit Parejo García, Jorge Sobejano Nieto, Félix Zamora Gómez (ES)