BEATRIZ DUARTE
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Disentangling Robust Architectures: curatorial reading of new uses of batteries and bunkers in Lisbon
Authors: Inês Moreira, Beatriz Duarte and Flora Paim
in Plan Barron A Future For Super-Resistent Structures
Editor: Maria Rita Pais
Published by: Universidade Lusófona
ISSN: 978-989-9205-01-7
2024
publishing researching; writing
Robust military architectures from the post–World War II period constitute contradictory forms of heritage, burdened with both material and immaterial layers: concrete, iron, artillery, as well as memories, stories, practices, norms, and symbolic representations. To address the complex dynamics of the eight batteries and bunkers of Plan Barron, a coastal defense system implemented in the 1940s and 50s along Lisbon and Setúbal, we propose a curatorial approach grounded in visual and urban culture. This approach seeks to read and understand the physical, cultural, and conceptual dimensions of these sites.
The analysis draws on theories from heritage studies, contemporary art, and aesthetics, and integrates materials from fieldwork, military archives, and audiovisual content produced by civilians and media. Although Plan Barron has been deactivated since 1998, the sites remain active through their multiple appropriations. We focus on how ecological processes, civilian engagement, decaying materiality, and spontaneous human and more-than-human uses contribute to re-signifying these structures, returning them to the public sphere and collective imagination.
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