Azores Summer School 2022

Sep 6, 2022 | Architecture, Rafael Manzano Prize, Summer Schools, Training

The summer school took place from July 11 to 24 in Lajes do Pico, one of the three municipalities of the island of Pico, within the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores.

The program was organized by INTBAU and the Rafael Manzano Prize of New Traditional Architecture, with the support of the Lajes do Pico municipality, the Fundación EKABA, the Fundação Serra Henriques and Alireza & Mina Sagharchi, and the collaboration of the Government of Azores through its Department of Culture, Cham Açores, the Universidade Portucalense do Porto (Portugal) and the Instituto Universitário de Lisboa ISCTE-IUL (Portugal), the schools of architecture of the University of Miami and the University of Notre Dame (USA), the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and the Centro de Investigación de Arquitectura Tradicional (CIAT).

– The place –
Pico is the southernmost island of the central group of islands in the Azores. The nearest islands are São Jorge and Faial. Pico is a volcanic island where fertile black soils surround a central spine of currently inactive volcanoes. Its economy has been traditionally based on its World Heritage vineyards, fishing and, till not that long ago, whaling, though tourism is nowadays the main economic activity. Its population of around 14,000 inhabitants is scattered in a number of villages, most of them by the sea. These villages are grouped in three different municipalities: Madalena, São Roque do Pico and Lajes do Pico, where participants stayed.

Pico’s vernacular architecture, made out of black volcanic stone, lime mortars and wood, is of outstanding beauty

– The work process –
Local traditional urbanism, architecture and building details of the Pico island were studied in order to create a traditional building patterns catalog which could serve as a basis for both new traditional designs and the preservation of Pico’s built heritage. Hand drawing and measuring buildings, streets and building details all around the island was the main activity during the first week of the program. 
– Intervention proposal –  
Drawing on this initial work, and responding to the needs presented by the municipality of Lajes do Pico, a development proposal for the town was collaboratively designed. This proposal included a new waterfront, a square, an auditorium, a hotel, a market and a music pavilion for an undeveloped and decaying area located right in front of the sea and belonging to the municipality.
– Results and exhibition –
Both the initial documentation work and the final design proposal were publicly exhibited at the Whaling Museum of Lajes do Pico by the end of the program.
– Other activities –
Lectures

In addition to the field work, experts in the history, geology, biology, landscapes, traditions and architecture of the area were invited to lecture on these topics. All lectures were kindly hosted by the Whaling Museum of Lajes do Pico.

Workshops

Several teachers and participants of the summer school delivered various workshops on drawing, perspective, watercolor and other painting techniques.

Demonstrations

The participants of the summer school had the opportunity to witness how one of the island’s remaining master stonemasons works, an expert in building the dry stone walls that can be found throughout much of the island’s landscape. They were also able to experiment with the traditional tools of the trade.

– The organizing team, faculty and participants –
The work was developed by a very international team made of people from more than 10 different nationalities. The faculty and organizing team was formed by José Baganha (INTBAU Portugal), Carolina Cabra Ankersmit (INTBAU España), Aritz Diez Oronoz (Universidad del País Vasco), Alejandro García Hermida (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid | Premio Rafael Manzano | INTBAU España), Guillermo Gil Fernández (Premio Rafael Manzano | INTBAU España), Rebeca Gómez-Gordo Villa Premio Rafael Manzano | INTBAU España), Imanol Iparraguirre Barbero (Universidad del País Vasco), Frank Martínez (University of Miami), Pedro P. Palazzo (Universidade de Brasília), Jorge Santos Silva (INTBAU Portugal) and Lucien Steil (University of Luxemburg). 

Lecturers included Raul Azevedo, Manuel da Costa (Museu do Pico), Igor Espínola de França (CHAM Açores), Rui Florentino (Universidade Portucalense do Porto | INTBAU Portugal), Alexandre Gamelas (AGCS Arquitectos | INTBAU Portugal), Mónica Goulart (Parque Natural da Ilha do Pico. Direção Regional do Ambiente), Ramón Mayo (Kalam | Fundação EKABA), Manuel Paulino (Direção Regional do Ambiente e Alterações Climáticas), Telma Ribeiro (Universidade Portucalense do Porto | INTBAU Portugal), José Luís Saldanha (ISCTE Instituto Universitário de Lisboa) e Catarina Santos (AGCS Arquitectos | INTBAU Portugal).

And the participants were Taruna Ramakrishnan Aiyyar (India), Clara Alvariño Galicia (Spain), Patrícia Antunes dos Reis (Portugal), Aiala Bastero Acha (Spain), Alaric Bovero (France), Inês Castro Lobo (Portugal), Pietro Degli Esposti (Italy/Brasil), Emmanuela Dretaki (Greece), Guillermo Escolano Martínez (Spain), Madeline Vogel Fairman (USA), Duarte Fernandez Ruivo (Portugal), Karla Fidalgo (USA), Pierre Keller (France), Alejandro Martínez del Río (Spain), Laura Miguel Pastor (Spain), João Tiago Neto Tereso (Portugal), Daniele Roccaro (Italy), Cesar Eduardo Rojas Marrugo (Colombia), Andrew Seago (USA), Nicholas Sloan (USA), Ashley Straub (USA), Alexis Stypa (USA) and Nathan Walz (USA).