THE VULCAN LAGOON – a dynamic approach to landscape project applied to the São Miguel Island, singling out the basins of the Furnas Lagoon

 

Graduate School of Design – Harvard – Fall 2015

João Nunes, João Gomes da Silva

 

The Studio intends to highlight the questions articulated with the dynamics of the generation of the Furnas landscape, and its definition as a unique and iconic landscape; particular importance will be awarded to the questions related on the one hand with the cultural/anthropic dimension of that landscape, and on the other hand with the different cycles characteristic to the multiple time dimensions of the landscape of the Azores. Furthermore, the inherent impact of two aforementioned dimensions in the different metabolisms of this landscape will also be closely studied, namely highly relevant aspects as the eutrophication of the Furnas Lagoon. How was the specific cultural landscape of Furnas Lagoon formed? And what can be the development this unique and astonishing space?

The course works as an atelier in which the project work is individually developed with periodic reviews and critics. It is also expected the presentation of theoretical lectures to ensure the acquisition of necessary basic knowledge and the homogenization of the students in order to prepare them for the development of the project.

The approach will comprehend an analysis of cartography elements and other descriptive qualitative and quantitative data of the Furnas landscape, its actors, its Lagoon, its functioning. The majority of this data corresponds to the University of the Azores contribution to the program, namely through didactic sessions in the site. These sessions would be scheduled in accordance with the students’ visit to Furnas and would develop in the Studio site and the city of Ponta Delgada. The Studio, which intends to explore the elements of the landscape of Furnas functioning problem resolution as elements which are capable of producing architectonic space, aims to elaborate a Conclusions Report of the Studio and the project approaches achieved, as to present them to the University of the Azores.