Portuguese representation of the Venice Biennale presents Fertile Futures

The Official Portuguese Representation at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia 2023 presents Fertile Futures, a project curated by Andreia Garcia and jointly curated by Ana Neiva and Diogo Aguiar, which problematizes the water resources of seven Portuguese hydrogeographies, to think about a fertile, sustainable and equitable future. Commissioned by the General Directorate of Arts, the Fertile Futures exhibition will be presented between May 20 and November 26, 2023, at Palazzo Franchetti, in Venice.
A vital element for human and non-human species, but also metaphorical and emotional, freshwater is simultaneously political and economic, which is why public discussion on the protection, management and future of this natural resource is urgent. These are global issues with dramatic manifestations in different specificities of Portuguese territory. Focusing on seven hydrogeographies, Fertile Futures commissions young architects, in collaboration with specialists from other areas of knowledge, to present propositional models for a more sustainable tomorrow, in non-hierarchical cooperation between disciplines, generations and species. The seven cases under study exemplify the anthropocentric action on water, natural and finite resources with impacts on the Tâmega basin; in the International Douro; in the Middle Tagus; in Alqueva Albufeira; on the Mira River; at Lagoa das Sete Cidades; and in Ribeiras Madeira. The production of unpublished content, based on the strategic complementarity between practice, theory and teaching in architecture, defines the tripartite approach to experimentation and common reflection that focuses on the reality of the Portuguese territory. Fertile Futures involves the new generations in the development of solutions for reservoirs of the future and defends, between Portugal and Venice, the pertinence of the contribution of Architecture in the redesign of a decarbonized, decolonized and collaborative tomorrow, thus contributing to a common discussion and global, in direct response to the invitation by Lesley Lokko, curator of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2023, which has as its title and theme “The Laboratory of the Future”.

According to the curated text:
“The program proposed by Fertile Futures, defends the laboratory dimension of architectural design in dialogue with other disciplinary areas, and the ability to move forward by trying to imagine the future, claiming the contribution of multidisciplinary discourse, in the design of solutions to emerging issues that tend to to go beyond the singular domain of action of male and female architects. Discussing and proposing strategies for the management, reserve and transformation of fresh water and contributing to a common and global discussion, Fertile Futures problematizes the scarcity and management of this resource, from the Portuguese territory.” The proposal is made up of seven Project Workshops, whose work forms the core of the propositional exhibition in Venice; five Assemblies of Thought, moments of reciprocal (re)learning based on the coexistence of knowledge; and an International Summer Seminar where students collectively rehearse speculative installations.

About Andreia Garcia
Andreia Garcia is an architect, curator, editor, researcher and university professor. Its path has been defined by an architectural practice that expands disciplinary intersections with complementary areas. His interests focus on the contemporary practice of architecture in an era marked by strong technological advances and a progressive ecological crisis. She is the founder of the atelier Architectural Affairs, founder and director of the Knowledge Biennial Art(e)facts and co-founder of the Architecture Gallery, an independent space for reflection and debate on architecture, city and territory. She was Invited Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture of the University of Minho and studio tutor at the Architectural Association, in London. She is Assistant Professor and Vice President of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Beira Interior.