IDW 2020

14 15 Soft urban edges #8 by Alberto Pottenghi and Mariana Sendas (MONOatelier) The contemporary city is evolving very fast, needs are changing as well as the way urban areas are used. However, as these changes in the built environment take place urban edges are been created. How can we soften these edges? We will develop soft surfaces as metaphoric mem- branes that can adapt to the moving contemporary society. By using soft surfaces, as curtains or panels, the transition of the form is natural because they move in and out or they can catch the light or shade. A soft sur- face can announce something or simply appropriate space making it more comfortable or even domestic. Movement can take inhabitants into a different condition, an unexpected one, creating spatial experi- ences that can provoke emotions and new discoveries. The interaction with the soft surfaces can have an effect in the mood of the people, it can surprise you or amuse you, bringing you out of a predictable situation. Soft surfaces can act both physically and mentally. Soft surfaces can “dress” the city, provide new scales of inhabiting space and, at the same time, con- stitute filters for the inside-outside relationship. Students will be asked to design using simple elements, as curtains or modular panels, to build new partitions and achieve the creations of new spaces where different activities events could take place. COMMONSTRUCTURES #9 by JQTS (João Quintela and Tim Simon) There is a certain ambiguity with the concept of struc- ture. In architecture it can be a physical presence that expresses a simple diagram of forces as well as a symbolic representation of a certain society. It can be a spatial structure as well as an ideological or political structure. It can be the image of a future building as well as a ruin that addresses a certain memory of what it was. In this transitory condition one can clearly identify the potential of its use. It will depend on their spatial qualities, character, scale, material, urban location, social context, etc. Regarding the transformation of the ring road and the possible fractures of society we propose a double exercise that runs in parallel during the workshop. On the one hand we want to discuss about existing build- ing-structures that were capable to engage society in a wider sense. On the other hand, we want to explore the potential use of the existing and empty structures in-situ. Sometimes a certain structure is asking for specific use; sometimes a certain need is asking for a specific structure; sometimes we need ephemeral structures for long-term functions; sometimes we need permanent structures for temporary uses.