“This is a polyphonic exhibition because it embraces many perspectives. We aim for it to be a collective narrative with multiple voices,” stated chief curator Mariana Pestana in an interview regarding the reopening of a space that has been closed for a year.
The Architecture Center (CA) of the Garage South at the Museum of Contemporary Art – Belém Cultural Center (MAC/CCB) is set to reopen on Wednesday at 7:00 PM with free entry. The program includes a presentation talk on the “Interespecies” exhibition featuring various researchers, complemented by music created using sounds from different species.
The venue is envisioned to serve “not only to host exhibitions that use architecture to discuss major contemporary issues but also as a meeting place for work and knowledge creation,” emphasized Pestana, who graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Porto.
“The CA underwent a light yet transformative intervention by the BUREAU studio, responding to a curatorial program that explores forms of collective knowledge creation through exhibitions, residencies, scholarships, public programs, and publications,” described the chief curator, noting that visitors can explore both completed projects and those still in progress.
Previously serving as an exhibition area for architecture at the CCB, with this new project led by Mariana Pestana, who was selected through a competitive process finalized in early 2024, the space will also feature work areas for events and discussions.
Inside, the first exhibition cycle centers on the theme of interspecies architecture, “which serves not only people but also ecosystems.”
“It’s an ecological approach to architecture, more complex,” explained the architect regarding a project that includes Anna Bertmark, Fernanda Costa, Valentina Demarchi, Bernardo Gaeiras, Mathilde Gouin, Katerina Iglezaki, Carlos Pastor, and Mariana Simões (Bauhaus of the Seas Research Group) in its team.
The project follows Mariana Pestana’s investigative work, particularly her curatorial workshops with a group of researchers pursuing doctorates and research in architecture, design, interaction, and interspecies fields, focusing on a more-than-human concern.
The exhibition evokes the principles of ancient exhibitions that blended scientific curiosities, artistic projects, decorative elements, and materials: “This coexistence of different forms of knowledge greatly influenced our way of working,” she commented.
“Interespecies” will be divided into three parts: one titled “Aproximar,” featuring projects and exercises offering new perspectives of the world beyond the Cartesian; another called “Coabitar” with architectures and building materials coexistive with fish, insects, and various species; and “Conspirar,” addressing the rights of nature and how urban planning and legislation are evolving to protect certain species, ensuring their survival, advanced Pestana.
Visitors will be intrigued by new experiences, such as a designer who opted to live as a goat for three days, shepherds who communicate using bird-like sounds to call livestock, or the life of a flamingo in the Tagus estuary.
The exhibition brings together creators from fields like film, computing, biology, and video games to draw a broader audience—beyond architects—interested in experimenting with body-swapping games with other species or observing architectures designed specifically for birds and insects.
The project views architecture “as a relational practice that connects people, places, work conditions, lives, territories, and materials,” summarized Pestana.
“We consider architecture’s users to be humans but also birds, plants, and minerals,” explained the curator on a research line developed by some global researchers.
Mariana Pestana prioritizes people as part of ecosystems: “We live interdependently with other species like trees, and it’s critical to acknowledge this to improve human quality of life.”
“This is also a post-humanist philosophical stance, coming from within nature and critically assessing the industrialized architecture form, seeking alternative references,” noted the co-founder of The Decorators, an interdisciplinary studio that designs objects, workshops, events, and buildings through collaborative processes exploring concepts of place, community, and conviviality.
The annual residencies, commencing this year, will feature the Danish studio Superflex in collaboration with Portuguese KWY and Estúdio Obsidiana, focusing on architectural projects for people and birds.
The residency studios will create architectural installations for display at the Olive Tree Garden and the CCB Water Garden, slated to open on June 28, accompanied by a parallel program of talks.
The initiative will also see the continuation of two annual architecture scholarships, each worth 10,000 euros, open to individuals or collectives, aligning with the year’s theme at the CCB Architecture Center.
The curator highlights these scholarships’ significance in a country with few support opportunities for architectural creation: “It’s crucial to add value that enables taking a first step, initiating a project, and promoting investigations or experimental architecture not necessarily as built works.”
Concerning the audience they aim to attract to Garage South, Pestana noted that the space’s visitors “are very loyal” and expects it to appeal to architecture students seeking answers to some of their concerns.
“From my interaction with students, I’ve observed their strong ecological concerns, very central to this generation, especially given the current bleak international political climate. Here, through architecture, we aim to explore ways of existing and thinking in the world that offer some spaces of safety and hope,” she stated.
The Architecture Center at MAC/CCB will open to the public from Thursday, operating between 10:00 AM and 6:30 PM, inaugurating a new cycle focused on cohabitation between humans and other species.
