SCOPIO MAGAZINE ARCHITECTURE, ART AND IMAGE

Next Edition and Scopio & Contrast International Conference

2024-01-19T05:57:16+00:00

With this Open Call "Exploring Contemporary Realities", we launch the annual major theme of interest for scopio Magazine AAI – Visual Spaces of Change: Exploring Contemporary Realities, Volume 2, and initiate a new collaboration with the project Contrast: Multidisciplinary network of artistic initiatives in Art, Architecture, Design and Photography through SCOPIO & CONTRAST International Conference.

The call will have as responsible Editors academics / artists coming from both scopio Magazine AAI and the Contrast project. This editorial team will ensure the necessary peer review work through the U. Porto OJS platform.

scopio Magazine AAI will be, in this way, the official publishing academic periodical for International Conference SCOPIO & CONTRAST and the submissions are both for the Conference and its 2^nd volume in partnership with Contrast addressing the theme Exploring contemporary realities.

Abstracts for conference presentation will be published in the e-book of abstracts of the SCOPIO & CONTRAST International Conference, which will have also the program and will be accessible and free to download through scopio Magazine AAI and Contrast platforms at the time of the event.

Subsequent publication of the most relevant (expanded – full manuscripts) contributions will be published in section Exploring contemporary realities of scopio Magazine AAI ], Volume 2.

The present call aims to explore the use of photography and other means of visual representation as forms of artistic research, documentation, and analysis of different configurations on the transformation of the physical environment and how it is understood and shaped by a diverse field of study, practices and cultures. This means, besides other things, to better understand through photography and film the relationship between culture and space and explore how culture, beliefs, behaviours, and practices, interacts with and shape the physical environment of different territories and their architectures, cities and landscapes, as well as to acknowledge contemporary discourses and usages of landscape concepts¹.

Social transformations are linked to changes in the inhabited place, and recent history has revealed the speed with which space changes. These transformations have been so radical that regular documentation about the impermanence of the place has become urgent. In fact, places are uncertain spaces and to represent them visually is to preserve their understanding, recent life experiences such as the gentrification of large cities or the health crisis have imposed profound changes on contemporary life models and, consequently, allowed the creation of previously unthinkable photographs. This is where the “Exploring contemporary realities” is located, artistic projects and documentary projects that operate from the expanded field of architecture, art and design from its actual materialization to the experiences of the place; exploring different levels of privacy, scales and urban landscapes. Focusing also on the exploration of the discursive space that operates in broader systems: sociocultural, political, historical and even technical.

If we accept the image as a kind of visual language², disseminated and received in different geographic points, this call extends this dialogue, opening up to the integration of different looks of cultural identities from other regions, places and countries; the specificity of the place as a way to increase our understanding of society and the territory. The objective is to encourage the use of images for the construction of artistic projects that promote critical views on the transformation of the physical environment as a result of the way they are perceived and experienced in their multiple facets. In summary, the aim is to take advantage of the current role of the image as a way of expanding knowledge with a particular focus on photography, recognized as a privileged means of expression and research for the understanding of architecture and urban landscapes and for the construction of the imaginary; between document and fiction; reproduction and manipulation; analogue and digital visual representation as a means of crossing different disciplines, blurring artistic boundaries.

The call is interested in the construction of artistic projects and theoretical essays using photography and film as a way of communicating the experience of space, questioning how people live and work, as well as architectural practices and urban landscapes. We want to encourage students and researchers to develop projects that are not limited to documenting and describing reality, but to deepen knowledge that enhance the construction of more effective and meaningful ways of understanding our relationships with the territory, even anticipating a possible future. It is intended to develop visual essays based on conceptually and artistically strong photographic artistic practices.

We are open to submissions that explore photographic representation as an artistic research tool, both in theoretical work and in field work, in all its possible and complex artistic visions. We want to awaken the interest of authors in the areas of architecture, art and design encouraging the creation of photographic series that explore new frontier paradigms, which can contribute to the critical analysis of the dynamics of physical and social transformation, understanding architecture and urban landscape as living and inclusive organisms.

The organization of the international conference will integrate members coming from scopio Magazine AAI Editorial team and the Contrast project, reinforcing in this way the network of multidisciplinary artistic initiatives in Art, Architecture, Design and Photography.

The built environment and public spaces informing teaching and learning

2024-01-17T18:16:00+00:00

Modern learning environments have evolved beyond traditional classrooms, encompassing various settings like digital networks, social media, communities, and urban landscapes. The defining characteristics of an educational space include purpose and intentionality, going beyond conventional boundaries and offering students practical, context-specific learning experiences. Engagement with public spaces and the constructed environment facilitates spatial engagement and participation.

This text explores a critical pedagogy that aims to uncover institutional power and prevailing ideologies within everyday experiences, questioning the educational value of buildings, cities, streets, and walls. It examines the constructed environment as an educational tool, including cities, parks, houses, streets, public, and private spaces.

Within the domain of educational research, urban public spaces and the built environment serve as crucial contexts for graduate students, providing experiential learning opportunities and an in-depth analysis of the intricate relationship between political and pedagogical rationales that shape urban spaces and structures. This exploration also extends to the spaces between buildings and the practices that influence them.

Urban spaces offer genuine learning contexts, enhancing research skills and honing observational abilities. Students are encouraged to delve beneath the surface of familiarity, transcending self-evident truths.

The text presents three case studies examining cultures formed by young individuals in schools, urban populations, small communities, and urban artists. These studies spotlight the educational significance embedded within the interplay of spatial configurations and the inhabitants of these spaces.

Cover page:These walls are meant for people, Barcelona, 2019

Civic Innovation in Portugal

2024-01-17T17:00:19+00:00

Democracy in Portugal is challenged by the lack of awareness regarding decision-making processes, disappointment with quality of life expectations, and a general lack of trust in politics. Citizens' disenchantment with the performance of governors and politicians is reflected in low electoral participation and radicalisation in the public sphere. Despite this, there is a growing inclination towards participatory dynamics and solidarity initiatives. The 50th Portuguese anniversary of democracy in 2024 should draw attention to innovative civic engagement projects that enhance democratic maturity and citizens’ commitment.

The present article aims to conceptualise citizen innovation, and analyse its practices in Portugal, typify models of civic laboratories, and discuss their effectiveness, focusing on results, particularly those that are managed as a bottom-linked model This study carried out a literature review and analysed four recent initiatives in Portugal. Structured in three parts, it discusses civic labs as settings for structural change and analysis of civic innovation in Portugal.

The study emphasises equally the transformative potential of collaborative collective action between citizens and communities, particularly when it is mediated and geographically delimited. Citizen labs are seen as valuable spaces for mapping resources, combining knowledge, and experiencing social transformations with low risk. Regarding civic labs governance models, the bottom-linked approach, although with limitations, tends to reveal a strong potential when compared to top-down institutional or bottom-up community approaches.

Cover page: The conceptual and operative dimensions of the Urban Civic Labs

SI3 for urban resilience: a human-nature driven paradigm shift

2024-01-17T14:44:50+00:00

In a world increasingly marked by environmental challenges and climate uncertainties, the urgency for a paradigm shift in our relationship with the planet Earth has never been more evident. The increasing awareness of time running out underscores the immediacy of action necessary to alleviate the impact of human activities on the planet’s resources and to address the pervasive effects of environmental issues and climate change. Moreover, as these adjustments unfold, there arises a need to reconsider the foundations of a shared future that is socially, environmentally, and technologically viable, and, consequently, it is necessary to rethink our connections with one another and the broader built environment – encompassing individuals, communities, and societies. This paper contends that the ongoing and forthcoming transformations necessitate a continuous re-evaluation of our common ground to ensure a more sustainable and resilient future for all. Therefore, this research advocates for the implementation of the SI3 framework as a catalyst for this paradigm shift – a framework that integrates inclusive, innovative, and intelligent solutions to foster urban resilience in the face of an evolving world. The imperative need for a transformative change in the way we perceive and interact with our built environment is also addressed through the NBC (nature-based cities) and GIM (green information modeling) models. Likewise, the challenges of dealing with the existing built environment are explored within the SI3 scope, emphasizing the importance of collecting and analyzing data related to space appropriation, daily flows, public space usage, social-spatial dynamics of buildings, and building energy consumption. By synthesizing and understanding this sort of data, the paper argues that cities can be better equipped to adapt, evolve, and thrive in the face of ongoing and future challenges, contributing to a more resilient and sustainable urban future.

Cover image: Continuation of Leça Green Corridor construction, in Matosinhos, with the requalification and natural consolidation of the Leça River banks, and extension of the Ecovia

Techniques of Discovery: Cryptography and Design

2024-02-18T07:35:44+00:00

Among the core technologies forming the rich archaeology of computation, cryptography is perhaps a subject that has received little attention in architectural studies thus far. However, there are fruitful considerations to draw from a closer inspection of the vast repertoire of techniques that cryptography has developed over a period of about seven centuries. First of all, a deeper historical perspective will help frame cryptography as a technology for discovery rather than solely protecting military and diplomatic secrets. Secondly, these considerations can be of relevance to design as they offer thoughts for both conceptual reflections and practical applications. At a conceptual level, the symbolic, discrete computation accompanying the evolution of cryptographic methods – such as Alberti’s one in 1467 – marked a radical departure from the iconic semiotics of analogue machines. The non-mimetic nature of symbolic computation provided the technological means to significantly widen its range of applications and enhanced speculative thinking. Understood along these lines, cryptography found more general applications beyond concealing diplomatic secrets to provide a rigorous method for inquiry into unknown domains in order to make ‘noisy data’ intelligible. Finally, symbolic computation also provided more advanced techniques for abstraction that were also instrumental for constructing notational drawings, whose emergence coincided with the introduction of more advanced mathematical instruments in the renaissance.

The essay will discuss the key paradigmatic moments in the history of cryptography such as the polyalphabetic techniques proposed by L. B. Alberti in 1467 and the use of binary cryptography by Francis Bacon in 1605. Despite their distance from the present, these experiments provide a useful segue into a discussion on how the notion of cypher as a conceptual instrument accompanying the introduction of Machine Learning models in architectural and urban design.

Cover image: Albrecht Dürer, The Draughtsman of the Lute

Visual Essays on Urbanity: A Photographic Journey through Architectural Transformations

2024-01-27T11:38:11+00:00

'The Visual Spaces of Change' (VSC) section emphasises the role of photography and various visual representation methods as pivotal in researching, documenting, and analysing the transformational aspects of architecture, urbanity, and territorial landscapes. This section acknowledges the intricate link between societal transformations and alterations in the spaces we inhabit, with recent historical events underscoring the swiftness of these spatial changes. The radical nature of these transformations has necessitated a consistent and urgent documentation of the impermanent nature of places. Places, inherently uncertain, are captured visually to preserve and understand their essence. Contemporary societal shifts, such as urban gentrification or health-related crises, have brought about significant changes in life patterns, leading to the creation of photographs that were once unimaginable. The VSC resides here, in documentary artistic projects that explore the expanded field of architecture, from its tangible manifestation to the experiences it fosters. It investigates various scales, new spatial configurations, architectural vernaculars, and urban vistas, while also probing into the discursive spaces that intersect with larger frameworks, including socio-cultural, political, historical, and technical realms.

By treating images as a form of visual language that is disseminated and interpreted across different global points[1], this section extends its dialogue. It opens up to incorporate diverse cultural viewpoints from various regions, places, and countries, using the specificities of each location to enhance our understanding of society and the territorial landscape. The strategy's objective is to promote the use of images in constructing artistic projects that offer critical reflections on the transformation of architecture and urban landscapes, influenced by the diverse ways they are perceived and experienced. Ultimately, the section seeks to utilise the contemporary significance of imagery, particularly photography, as a means to broaden knowledge. Photography is esteemed as a prime medium for interpreting architecture and for crafting imaginative narratives, navigating between reality and fiction, replication and alteration, and the amalgamation of analogue and digital visual forms, thus traversing various disciplines and blurring artistic demarcations.

The section commences with James Smith's visual essay "Temporal Dislocation", which explores the contrasting interplay between destruction and regeneration in our interactions with landscapes. Smith's photographic series highlights the recurring patterns of the natural world following human interference, driven by a profound phenomenological perspective. The series bridges the intentional composition by the photographer and the incidental engagement of the viewer with these reconfigured landscapes, positioning the photograph as a subtle form of communication that invites reevaluation of the common and omnipresent.

"Urban Wilderness: A Journey through Lisbon Terrain Vague" by Lorenzo Iannizzotto focuses on the piecemeal and indeterminate nature of the so-called "Terrain Vague" or "Urban Voids" in Lisbon. Iannizzotto employs photography as a means to explore and articulate these spaces, presenting them in a fragmented and sporadic fashion that honours their intrinsic features. His work uncovers the latent charm of these spaces, highlighting their considerable potential for urban development.

Cover images: Temporal Dislocation - Watchtower (2011) and 38°44’16”N 9°06’38”W (2023)

Temporal Dislocation

2024-01-17T08:02:50+00:00

This body of work navigates the dialectical tension between the destruction and renewal of our relationship with landscapes, both contemporary and historical, and the intricacies of activities evident within constructed environments. These quasi-sculptural forms serve as poignant markers of power, class, and labor embedded in the English landscape.

The work probes the fragile equilibrium between stability and impermanence, highlighting the cyclicality of the natural world after human intervention. It seeks to illuminate how form naturally follows function, unveiling the innate aesthetics within ordinary "found" objects. These forms offer an enduring narrative of their utilitarian evolution, underscoring the beauty inherent in utilitarian simplicity.

At its core, this work is driven by phenomenological intent, bridging the gap between the photographer's deliberate framing and the casual viewer's passive encounter with these constructed landscapes. The photograph becomes a subtle language inviting viewers to reevaluate the ostensibly banal and ubiquitous. This body of work challenges the boundaries between fact and objectivity, employing angles that prompt a deeper understanding and reflective exploration of unacknowledged memories and logics. It references scientific approaches and surveys while drawing inspiration from brutalism theories and human responses to utilitarian environments throughout their evolution.

Cover image: Temporal Dislocation - Watchtower (2011)

Urban Wilderness

2024-01-17T10:18:02+00:00

The new urban condition has generated ambiguous spaces within it: Terrain Vague or Urban Voids are spaces within the city, nameless and without clear boundaries, difficult to define. They are unpaved and vegetated spaces that are neither public spaces, nor gardens, nor agricultural fields, lying in a state of abandonment, suspension, and invisibility. With no specific function and temporarily outside the logic of the market, these spaces are appropriated and used daily by people and nature.

Indeed, they eschew traditional cartographic representation, where they are often represented as mere white spaces, or spaces with future destinations. For this reason, walking as a common action becomes the fundamental tool for approaching, getting to know, and studying these spaces, while photography and other visual media become not only a means of representation, but also of studying and understanding the dynamic reality of these spaces and the different realities that inhabit them.

With this visual essay, I do not aim to provide an unambiguous representation or definition of these spaces, far from it. Going along with the fragmentary and uncertain nature of these places, I have used photography as a means of urban research to understand and describe these places, and as a personal travelogue within these spaces, as if to take notes. Having chosen Lisbon as the privileged terrain of my research, this visual essay has the sole purpose of trying to represent these spaces in a disorderly and fragmentary way, following their nature, and in doing so, trying to unveil a hidden beauty and reveal their enormous potential for the city.

Cover image: 38°44’16”N 9°06’38”W, 2023

Rite of the Waters: procession through the Campanhã Washhouses

2024-01-19T10:25:12+00:00

This article aims to reflect on the invisibility of women's work. We focus on two interconnected themes: the devaluation of domestic work as a de facto job; and the neglect of public washhouses, which were spaces for women to meet and work in the past.

Initially, Chloé's research discussed the public wash houses in Porto in order to cover their history, their impact on women's lives and their current state of deterioration. Gabriela's research reflected on the relationships and developments between domestic labour and performance art in an amalgam of repetitions, deviations and accumulation.

As a result of the Des/oriente project, there was a combination of these two areas of knowledge that gave rise to new multidisciplinary research carried out in two distinct areas: fine arts and architecture. The project in question aimed to realise narratives in the public space in the parish of Campanhã in Porto with activations by local artists.

In practical terms, the research materialised in a performance held in three washhouses where we were able to reactivate these spaces in an artistic way while also exploring different narratives about domestic work. It was possible to once again create a place for meeting and sharing in these spaces.

Cover image: Rite of the Waters: procession through the Campanhã Washhouses, Act I, Presa Velha, 2023. Photo - Katana Studio

An Ideal for Living

2024-01-18T10:03:14+00:00

'An Ideal for Living' explores the intersection of photography and computer-generated imagery (CGI) in depicting the future of urban life. It specifically examines London's ongoing urban redevelopment, highlighting how architecture is shaped as both a visual story and a construction process. This project blurs the lines between CGI and traditional photography, capturing the city's transformation during this period of change. The resulting images draw from architectural and advertising photography, combining reality with simulation, preserving the present while projecting future aspirations. They convey the pristine novelty of new buildings while hinting at the inevitable effects of time. 'An Ideal for Living' seeks to archive a simulated memory of the city's evolving landscape.

Cover image: An Ideal for Living

From address to outcome, a proposal for discussing research in the art academia towards the idea of a critical landscape

2024-01-17T17:24:01+00:00

This text aims to discuss forms of teaching/learning that allow for the understanding of the involvement of students in carrying out actions that pertain to two major areas of intervention: landscape and knowledge, and how research processes may be generated by those actions. Landscape is intended to be approached from a dynamic and critical point of view, beyond its multiple senses and descriptive characters, such e.g. as rural or urban considered as limiteded descriptions. Knowledge is considered horizontally as a collectively generated process focused on providing tools for research and analysis based on student-centred actions. As a brief open-ended exercise, this text does not aim to respond to a set of challenges involved in the definition of the practices that will attempt to discuss, such as, firstly, the contradictions inherent in the definitions of trans or post-medial practices, in constant change and often contested from current theory and art itself; and second, the danger of enclosing ourselves in definitive terminologies to describe the practices that occupy us and that often operate precisely in opposition to the propensity to find and stabilise definitions, which is the aspiration of the academia. How is academic research in the art academia to deal with these contradictions and how to distinguish between practice based and practice led research, will be the key questions that the text will try to address critically. Is the space of the academia the last space for utopia?

Cover page: Relational

Exploring Radical Pedagogies

2024-01-17T16:27:28+00:00

For architects, mere spatial visualization has ceased to suffice. They are now mandated to formulate fresh narratives pertaining to pioneering modes of engagement within novel sociocultural contexts. In turn, Architectural education, responsible for training the future builders of the world, plays a significant role in response to these demands and in creating a more sustainable, equitable, and fair built environment. However, mismatches between existing educational structures and evolving needs signal the necessity for reevaluating teaching practices.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the proximity between the concepts radical and utopia to Architectural education led to pioneering pedagogical experiments, representing a significant innovation in the field. The importance of their revival has found resonance in recent theories, sowing the seeds of future pedagogical ecologies at a time when the future of pedagogical radicalism faces new challenges. Thus, and at a time when Architectural education faces a significant crisis, this article strives to (re)unite the concepts of radical and utopia, which have drifted apart from the academic realm, underscoring the necessity of their rooting in Architectural training and practice by understanding and validating their potential.

When delving into the topic of radical pedagogies in Architectural education, by superficially analysing the process behind their construction, a cohesive framework of criteria that underpin these initiatives can be inferred: their critical, revolutionary, reformist, and transgressive nature as well as the nearly symbiotic presence — varying in degrees of intensity and with rare exceptions — of utopia at their core. In this context, the present study reveals the definition of a qualitative “Utopian Lens" towards the production of a taxonomy, built from a comprehensive review of published case studies.

This reflection, with a specific focus on eagle-eye the presence of utopia at their core, highlights fundamental elements within the structure of these approaches, allowing a categorized reading of the corpus of analysis, showcasing recuring patterns within the scope of the ongoing research. This process provided a collection that shows that utopia can be conveyed through radical pedagogies as a (1) Drive, across various types of (2) Thought, taking on multiple (3) Forms while embracing a wide array of diverse yet complementary (4) Principles.

Cover page: Creation of models for project presentation to the community. (Source: Collage by the Author)

Stonehenge UFO

2024-01-17T12:04:19+00:00

"What embodies an artist's imperceptible tentacles and psychic antennae? How does the intangible materialize, and how does one reveal their innate ability to sense and intuit? For photographer James Smith, the answer lies in the choice of angle. His distinctive images aren't solely defined by the objects captured but by the angle's transformative power. Placed on flat fields, lawns, or derelict terrains, they confront wintry weather, save for one—a Guggenheim-like structure. Smith's angles imbue the images with both representation and orientation. They hint at secret locations on an eccentric map known to the artist alone. Time and space intertwine, blurring past and future. Smith's photography is evidence of the impossible, an enigmatic testimony that retains art's essence."

Cover image: Temporal Dislocation - Concrete Foundation (2011)

Flash

2024-02-19T09:51:52+00:00

This section starts by reviewing two exhibitions that are taking place at the international level, which not only reflect contemporary artistic practices but also interrogate the socio-cultural underpinnings of our built environment: The Head, The Heart & The House: Migration and Modernism in King-lui Wu’s Domestic Architecture and Tatiana Bilbao Estudio — Architecture for the Community. Then, a recent curatorial project involving architecture, media and art is presented - Building a Collective Archive: A Yale Traveler’s Mnemosyne -, inviting readers into a thought-provoking journey through the Yale School of Architecture’s latest curatorial endeavour.

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Cover page: Building a Collective Archive, Exhibition entrance at the Yale’s North Gallery, at Rudolph Hall © courtesy of YSoA

Drawing and Photography International Contest (DPIc) - Next Edition

2024-01-17T09:54:39+00:00

The third edition of the International Drawing and Photography Contest (DPIc) 2024, a competition integrated in scopio Architecture, Art and Image is directed towards the Identity of Universities spaces of teaching experience and work and open to all academic communities, both in Portugal and abroad.

The contest has the joint coordination of the Center for Studies in Architecture and Urbanism (CEAU), the R&D Center of Architecture School of the University of Porto (FAUP), the Centre for English, Translation and Anglo-Portuguese Studies of the Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto (CETAPS/FLUP), i2ADS – Institute of Research in Art, Design and Society is a R&D unit based at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (FBAUP) and Research Institute for Design, Media and Culture [ID+] and the Institute Arquitecture and Development (Arq.ID) based at University Lusófona of Porto. It also has he institutional support of U.Porto’s Rectorate and in partnership with AEFAUP, counting with the support of other Student Associations of U.Porto.

The main ideas present in the contest Drawing and Photography Contest (DPIc) integrated in- Architecture, Art and Image – UTOPIA is to open the Universities to the Civil Society through Drawing and Photography projects, showcasing the multifaceted richness of activities, experiences and architectures related to the Learning institutions and its diverse spaces of experience and work.

Deadline for the submission of projects: 31 of July, 2024

About the jury’s evaluation

2024-02-19T09:47:40+00:00

The collective decision of the Jury, after voting all the submissions, was to give the first prize to “Appropriation of Time” and two honourable mentions to “A Wake-Up Call” and “Oasis of Education”. In overall terms, it can be observed that the submissions that obtained the highest scores share a harmonious equilibrium among three key dimensions: the originality of the project’s concept (idea), the cogency of its rationale (written explanation), and the effectiveness of its visual presentation (imagery). However, it’s worth noting that the Jury members held differing perspectives when it came to identifying projects that masterfully balanced these three dimensions. This diversity of opinions prompted critical reflection on contemporary concerns within our societies and academic institutions. On one hand, some works raised questions about whether modern universities are suitable environments for learning, collaboration, and a sense of belonging. On the other hand, other projects highlighted environmental issues and the resulting decline in the quality of life and education within university settings.

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Cover page: 1st Prize "Appropriation of Time" by Ana de Sousa, Carla Almeida, José Pedro Mendonça, Sofia Gameiro, Tatiana Monteiro, and Tatiana Mota

Open Call – International Drawing and Photography Contest (DPIC)

2024-03-01T09:24:04+00:00

We are currently in the third edition (2024) of the International Drawing and Photography Contest (DPIc), a competition integrated in scopio Magazine Architecture, Art and Image publication being directed towards the Identity of Universities spaces of teaching experience and work and open to all academic communities, both in Portugal and abroad.

Sense of place: How should we think about urban planning practices today?

2024-02-18T08:29:13+00:00

Considering the recent socio-technological, psychosocial, political, and economic developments, will the urban planning practices (in the systemic sense of its exercise) be able to adapt to a growing, changing urban culture? Noting the diverse variety of contemporary spatial practices in which methods, concepts, and discourses tend to be sealed off from one another, this reflection calls for a reevaluation of the plurality dimensions and layers in the construction of the urban reality, questioning in this process, the predictable hegemony regarding the supremacy of Architecture in shaping modern and current urban imagery. This essay seeks to foster a reflection on new contemporary paradigms of Western urban life, tracing a retrospective view that allows us to look systemically at what we have built. In this process, the aim is to stimulate a future collision path, a conceptual and operational dialogue between the creative disciplines of Architecture and Contemporary Art on the current urbanization courses, proposing this possible relationship as an inseparable disciplinary set in the process of producing public space and urban territory. Putting forth the hypothesis of reassessing the established models of contemporary urban planning, the goal is to explore the possible operationality of the bauhausian canon in its historical disciplinary triad (architecture/art/design) while, in a process of symbiotic interaction, considering them as complementary tools in urban design concept, promoting a pluralistic and expanded dialogue between the processes of designing, requalifying, and resignifying the future places.

Cover image: “Plaza de los Fueros”, Vitoria-Gasteiz. Designed in 1979 by Eduardo Chillida and Luis Peña Ganchegui

Towards a collaborative notion of Utopia

2024-01-16T16:04:51+00:00

scopio Architecture, Art and Image publication benefits from a renewed international Editorial Team and Scientific Committee and is now focused on disseminating the themes of Architecture, Art, Image (AAI). It has been integrated into a dynamic information space called scopionetwork with the collaboration of the Contrast project. Despite these changes, both the print and the online publications ensure the continuity of scopio’s original graphic identity and brand.
This open-access, annual, and research-orientated publication aims to offer critical, explorative and informative text targeting an interdisciplinary audience and providing a new critical space for discussion around the universe of AAI. It seeks, in particular, to debate / (re) think Architecture, Art and Image in our times.
Scopio AAI will be organised annually around a central theme, the focus of the first issue being Utopia. We want to challenge the ordinary understanding of this concept by exploring new ways of looking at Utopian thinking within today’s complex societies.
scopio AAI – Utopia aims to explore a notion of Utopia based on the idea that we need to have ambitious visions for the future and propose operational paths, creatively and collaboratively, towards transforming our society. We are interested in works by authors who believe that Utopia can be both a source of inspiration and a tool to create a better world. As advocated by Ernst Bloch eight decades ago in The Principle of Hope, because utopias offer visions of a better future world, they should be seen as part of our current reality and not be excluded from it. In this sense, utopias are inspiring images that guide us towards real possibilities and help us forge true social transformation.
We are interested in works that highlight the potential of Image as a medium that crosses borders and dislocates boundaries across different Architectural and Artistic subject areas. We call, in particular, for works by multidisciplinary teams inspired by broad notions of creativity, innovation and cybernetics as drivers of social and institutional co-evolution processes, exploring the potential of the world of Utopia and Image to inventively question and address cross-cutting problems affecting Architecture, Art and Image.

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About the published content on each section

2024-01-26T14:38:25+00:00

The inaugural theme of scopio Magazine AAI – Vol. 1 centered around Utopia exploring this concept from various angles and perspectives in each section, which involved integrating and reevaluating utopian ideas within different fields of study.
The separate sections in scopio allowed for investigating broader societal concerns, encouraging interdisciplinary discussions across realms such as Architecture, Public Space, Cities, Territories, Technology, Digital Media, Sustainable and Inclusive Environments, and Civic Engagement.
Diving into the ‘Visual Spaces of Change’ section, we encounter James Smith’s “Temporal Dislocation”, a visual essay that masterfully navigates through the complex dialogue between destruction and renewal in our landscapes, both contemporary and historical, and the intricacies of activities evident within constructed environments. The photography series highlights the cyclicality of the natural world after human intervention and is driven by a significant phenomenological intent that bridges the gap between the photographer’s deliberate framing and the casual viewer’s passive encounter with these constructed landscapes. The photograph becomes a subtle language inviting viewers to reevaluate the ostensibly banal and ubiquitous.
In the same section, Lorenzo Iannizzotto presents us with “Urban Wilderness: A Journey through Lisbon Terrain Vague”, a Visual Essay that embraces the fragmentary and uncertain nature of the spaces known as “Terrain Vague” or “Urban Voids”. The author uses photography as a means of urban exploration to gain insight into and describe these areas, and his visual essay depict these spaces in a haphazard and fragmentary manner, respecting in this way their inherent characteristics. In doing so, the work reveals the hidden beauty of those spaces and highlights the substantial potential they hold for the city.
Rafaela Lima’s visual essay, “The Earth from Above: from Below,” in the ‘Image, Space, and Cinematics’ section, looks into the evolution of aerial imagery and its impact on surveillance and cartography. Initially, aerial perspective offered limited insight, but wartime needs and aeronautical advancements soon made it a pivotal reconnaissance and mapping tool. This shift not only enhanced terrain understanding but also spurred innovations in camouflage techniques, notably during World War II, as captured in Harun Farocki’s film “Images of the World and the Inscription of War.” The Pratt Institute of Art further advanced visual strategies by transforming aerial photos into three-dimensional concealment models. Today, advanced technologies enable comprehensive global surveillance, marking a profound transformation in how we visually and conceptually grasp the Earth from above. Lima’s series articulates this dramatic change, reflecting on our relationship with landscapes, from uncharted territories to meticulously surveilled environments.

The ‘Contemporary Archeology’ section presents an intriguing article “Techniques of Discovery: Cryptography and Design” by Roberto Bottazzi, which explores the link between cryptography’s historical methods and modern design practices, particularly in the digital and Machine Learning (ML) realms. He suggests that cryptography’s principles of encoding and decoding offer a conceptual framework for design, enhancing data abstraction and interpretation. Bottazzi draws parallels between historical cryptographic techniques, like Alberti’s and Bacon’s cyphers, and ML’s ability to decipher patterns from extensive datasets, emphasizing the shift in design thinking from form creation to strategic computational tool application. This essay positions ML models as contemporary embodiments of cryptographic logic, framing them as instrumental in navigating design complexities, thus pushing the boundaries of speculative design and innovation.
In the section Landscapes of Care, Inês Osório writes the paper “Sense of Place: How Should We Think About Urban Planning Practices Today?” writes a comprehensive analysis into the evolution of urban planning in response to socio-technological and cultural shifts. The article challenges the architectural hegemony in urban space creation and urges reconsidering diverse spatial practices. Proposing a collision path between architecture and contemporary art, it views this nexus as crucial to redefining public space and urban territory. The paper advocates for a Bauhausian approach, integrating architecture, art, and design as a symbiotic urban design triad to foster a pluralistic dialogue and reimagine urban landscapes. The author suggests transcending conventional methodologies and encouraging an artistic contribution to urban regeneration, thereby enriching the experiential quality of urban environments.

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The Earth from Above: From Below

2024-02-17T20:59:51+00:00

The evolution of aerial surveying from its nascent stages in the early 20th century to the contemporary era of satellite imagery is a narrative of technological and methodological advancement. Initially, the ability to interpret landscapes from above was rudimentary, limited by the infancy of aeronautical activities. However, as aviation developed, particularly spurred by wartime needs, the significance of aerial perspectives grew. The use of photography from aircrafts became a pivotal method for understanding and documenting the Earth's surface, aiding in military strategies through the development of camouflage techniques. This paper explores the historical context in which aerial photography emerged as a critical tool for mapping and reconnaissance, highlighted by examples of camouflage used during World War II and the innovative use of aerial imagery in art and education, such as at the Pratt Institute of Art. It further discusses the transition from manual, piecemeal photographic surveys to the modern era's comprehensive, real-time digital mapping technologies. This transition not only marks a significant technological leap but also a shift in our perceptual understanding of the Earth's surface, as detailed through the examination of aerial imagery of airstrips and the conceptual art project "Earth From Above." This project, which organizes aerial images of airstrips and includes simulations of fictional runways, exemplifies the blend of artistic interpretation and geographic analysis. The paper concludes by reflecting on the philosophical implications of this evolution, drawing on Gaston Bachelard's notions of scale and the miniature, to underscore the changing relationship between humans and their ability to conceptualize and visualize their environment from aerial perspectives.

Cover page: Collins, Marjory. 1943. “Camouflage class in New York University, where men and women are preparing for jobs in the Army or in industry, New York, N.Y. They make models from aerial photographs, re-photograph them, then work out a camouflage scheme and make a final photograph.” Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017878858/