a+t architecture publishers

Daniel Carrapa, editor of the portuguese blog A Barriga de um Arquitecto, has reviewed the latest issue of a+t magazine, entitled Reclaim - Remediate Reuse Recycle.

According to him, the issue collects "interventions conducted with conscience and civic awareness".

"These are not mere conceptual approaches to design but initiatives that call for a moral responsibility of the architect’s role in the context of financial constraints and budget restrictions. Therefore, these are unusual projects that don’t fit into the conventional ideas of 'restoration' and 'preservation'. Alternatively, they’re often invasive proposals that incorporate into existing settings and buildings in a very explicit state of decay and ruin. This superimposition is interesting and materializes an intent; a new and rising architectural practice that understands design as a means not to 'beautify' but to install function and presence in a powerful and fulfilled human environment. So maybe we are witnessing the rise of a new design culture that is fully aware of its limitations but is also unwilling to compromise with the paralysis behind certain notions of austerity", says Carrapa.

And he adds: "It just may be that this is what separates the past from the future: the changing paradigm of the very notion of project, from a contemplative individual journey to an active process for embodying strategies and nurture transformative actions in the community".

Read the complete review here.