Courses
Fishing Architecture Field Work
The Fishing Architecture Workshop, a continuing education unit (CEU) running under the title “The Angeiras Dilemma”, will take place at FAUP and within the fishing community of Angeiras, in Matosinhos, in the context of the research project SEALabHaus: Atlantic New Bauhaus Laboratory for Sustainable, Inclusive, and Beautiful Blue Tourism, Heritage, and Culture of the Sea, funded by Interreg Europe (EAPA_0029/2022).
The CEU will operate in a workshop format, with students developing original proposals for the Angeiras community based on project sites situated between fish, rock, and beach. The “dilemma” concerns the relationship between the opportunity to construct support structures for land-based activities and the notion that the balance of marine ecosystems can tolerate neither construction nor architecture. The working groups will be led by architects Joana Azevedo (un-icon), Max Kahlen (Dyvik Kahlen), and Francisco Adão da Fonseca (Pedrêz) and engage with the ongoing Fishing Architecture research project. The outcome of the work will consist of a cross-sectional profile describing the land–sea ecological continuum and the planned interventions developed in response to the Angeiras dilemma.
The data collected, the maps produced, and the local contact networks established through ongoing research projects provide students with a documentary foundation as well as conceptual and technical tools for representing ecological systems. Project proposals must be developed from this association between architecture and marine biology. The representation of dynamic systems complements the working tools acquired within the core structure of architecture programmes; understanding these systems will allow the expansion of the disciplinary boundaries within which architecture operates. In this sense, the unit constitutes an exercise in interdisciplinarity and aims to relate the arts and humanities with the sciences in an applied context, outlining possible responses to the Angeiras dilemma.
Objectives
- Analysis and visualization of the data collected through fieldwork
- Experimentation with tools for data representation and visualization
- Integration of scientific and artistic research methods across different phases of the work
- Interaction with the local community through active listening and dialogue, with a view to understanding and incorporating empirical knowledge into architectural practice
- Exploration of collaborative and interdisciplinary working processes and methods
Fields of Specialization
The Angeiras dilemma traverses the line connecting terrestrial constructions and marine ecosystems. This land–sea relationship renders ambiguous the distinction between public, communal, and private domains, while at the same time regulating a system of natural resource exploitation. In this context, octopus is one of the most relevant and profitable species, alongside pouting, sea bass, and shrimp. The polyvalent nature of fishing activity results in a profusion of traps of varying sizes and formats that populate the marine ecosystem.
The programme will last three days, from 6 to 8 July 2026, with a total workload of twenty-four hours distributed between theoretical sessions, fieldwork, collective discussions, and the presentation and debate of results. The learning process will be based on the transfer and acquisition of knowledge, alongside critical discussion of the topics addressed, and the development of practical work in which the competencies imparted will be applied.
For the development of the projects, participants will be organized into three groups comprising students, researchers from the Fishing Architecture project, and invited guests, each dedicated to one of the spaces that define the construction of the coastline: the sea, the sand, and the rocky zone. These groups will develop proposals for the different spaces, based on the analysis of concrete situations and needs, taking as a reference the interactions between marine ecosystems and architecture. The process and results of the work will be discussed in collective sessions, with the participation of invited specialists and researchers from partner institutions.
Participants will develop competencies in the interpretation of scientific texts and in the use of representational tools. Particular emphasis will be placed on methods for the visualization and representation of urban and ecological phenomena. The unit aims to foster ecological awareness and knowledge in order to situate architecture within the disciplinary field of environmental sciences.
Professional Abilities
Completion of this Continuing Education Unit corresponds to 1 ECTS and the issuance of a certificate of participation.
Information
Duration: 24 hours
Format: In-person
Language: English
Applications
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Personal motivation expressed through a letter of motivation (50%)
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Specific competencies in accordance with the call, assessed through the submission of a document representing the applicant’s work (50%)
Target Audience
The programme is intended for master’s and PhD students in architecture and related fields aligned with the themes addressed, such as marine biology, geography, oceanography, and history.
References
- Callum Roberts, The Unnatural History of the Sea (Washington, DC: Island Press / Shearwater Books, 2007).
- William Firebrace, Memo for Nemo (London: Architectural Association, 2016).
- Karl-Otto Ellefsen and Tarald Lundevall, North Atlantic Coast: A Monography of Place (Oslo: Pax Forlag, 2019).
- Nancy Couling and Carola Hein, The Urbanisation of the Sea: From Concepts and Analysis to Design (Rotterdam: nai010, 2020).
- André Tavares and Diego Inglez de Souza, Arquitectura do bacalhau e outras espécies (Porto: Dafne Editora, 2022).
- André Tavares, Architecture Follows Fish. An Amphibious History of the North Atlantic (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2024).
Contacts
Academic and International Cooperation Services
Continuing Education
Catarina Martins
E-mail: faup.continua@arq.up.pt
T: 220425418
Fishing Architecture
Doctor Cláudia Soares
E-mail: fish@arq.up.pt
General information
| Teacher Responsible: | André Tavares |
| Acronym: | FishArq |
| Type of course/cycle of study: | Continuing Training Unit |
| Start: | 2024/2025 |
| Duration: | 24 Hour |
Study Plan
Certificates
- Fishing Architecture Field Word (1 ECTS credits)
Predominant Scientific Areas
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