Ephemeral Unities

Analyses of experiential architecture in Lisbon is drawn upon with a collection of aerial studies carried out in early fieldwork. Socio-cultural and territorial issues of peripheral district, Marvila, are held in counterpoint, resulting in the proposal of performative aerial architecture within a constructed micro-economy of textile recycling.

This thesis targets the social problematics of peripheral place via a rethinking of performative aerial architecture within a constructed micro-economy of textile recycling. The proposal consists of five interventions – both fixed and mobile – spanning almost the length of the Lisbon coastline. The project aims to symbiotically resolve established issues of social stigma and segregation in Marvila, as well as the wider environmental concern of the over-consumption and excessive waste produced by the textile industry. The program emerges from the same thematic which demonstratively holds these issues together: the study of skyscape. Drawing on studies of Lisbon’s relationship with the sky and Marvila’s relationship with ground, considering the meeting of the two as a surface or datum line that can be mediated and transformed.\nThe products of the scheme are parcels of organic compost, acoustic screens and the theatrical exhibition of repurposed, locally tailored costumes are leveraged to ease the local effects of soil and noise pollution, and to mend the strained social connections between Marvila and the city of Lisbon. Production takes place at host sites in Marvila within the School of Tailoring, Textile Labs, and Theatre, while commuter sites are used for collection and display. Proximity to the railway is prioritised for the commuter sites – Santa Clara Market (the immersive), Oriente Station (the disruptive) and Rua Augusta (the opportunistic) – to negate secondary transport and to maintain a relationship with the 'cross-section' of the city created by the rail. This section, imagined as a secondary skyline running parallel to the coast becomes animate with the activity of the scheme.