Urban Suture
“If I could, I would wish the life of an architect to all people, since there´s no more fulfilling a life can be, literally. I´d wish that all people could see “architecture” the same way as I do, with the same passion I feel as in designing a space. I wouldn’t wish them the long hours though.”
The frenetic pace of concrete growth in these last decades, especially with the rural exodus bringing the people to the big cities in search of better jobs, has allowed uneven and fast urban development. That same speed and excess led to some mistakes in the urban tissue planning, naturally, and that is the reason why Urban Planning and Architecture should come closer, now more than ever in order to solve such problems.
It is our responsibility, as architects, to find a way to intervene in the territory. Like surgeons, we should try to suture it´s most vulnerable points in a way of preventing the lost of identity and natural landscape of sites. We should also be able to perceive when it´s best not to intervene. Sometimes, the best intervention is to “leave the space alone”.
On a happy note, the Municipalities and their respective urban departments have, today, better tools to control every project that comes their way, therefore being able to achieve a better unity in developing the territory.
The new digital municipal platforms brought speed and efficiency in project development and, therefore, a better dynamic and easiness in project submissions into the municipalities. This improvement brought on the one hand, quality control that makes it possible to follow the modern times, and on the other, the ability to suture the existing interstitial spaces throughout the territory. It is a very positive point regarding both the future of our profession and the future of our society.
- written in 2022 by Tomás Velasco, founder of the office - Estudo Prévio
Temperatura, 75 x 50cm, Acrylic and Tempra on paper, 2021
Painting done by the author