THE LAND BENEATH THE ASPHALT
vacant land, resistance and entropy
Dissertation submitted as part of the Master’s degree in Art and Design for the Public Space at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (2016–2018), under the supervision of Prof.ª Doutora Ana Bigotte Vieira and Joana Braga.
Abstract: This investigation addresses urban vacant lots as a spatial category in the contemporary city. It was born out of both my concern about the mechanisms of regulation and social control at work in the production of the urban space and my interest in places and practices that end up subverting, even if accidentally, attempts of normalization. Intertwining theoretical approaches, the practice of writing, and artistic experiences inspired by direct contact with those vacant spots, I seek to problematize their presence within the urban fabric, offering a perspective that assumes they are open and available spaces as well as leftovers of territory’s structuring processes and necessary testimonies of urbanization models applied in contemporary cities. After mapping a number of vacant lots in Campanhã, Porto, it was chosen a specific site to develop the artistic inquiry. On this lot stood São Vicente de Paulo, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods meant for social housing. Experiencing the space in which the lot lies in, and researching its occupation process, I try to understand the dynamics taking place on the terrain, the tensions that it establishes with the surroundings, and the factors leading to its current expectant state. The critical reading presented in this work feeds the artistic practice, which nourishes itself from memories and characteristics of the place in order to act upon it.
Keywords: urban space, empty lots, demolition, walking, contextual practice.
