Notas sobre uma cidade

Afonso Cruz text

Teresa Férim reader

JAS digital drawing in real time

" The buildings that today seem like urban affronts can gain an unusual charm. You just have to wait. It is difficult to find a building that is ugly at the same time as it is centenary. There is an atavism in the cities - and Faro is no exception - where elements of other ages coexist. Roman or Arab or Phoenician constructions coexist side by side with contemporary architectural works. The latter often devoid of any distinguishing features, without geographical, historical or cultural references. We could move one of these buildings from Faro to Stockholm or from Beijing to Faro, without being surprised. We would not be able to do the same with a Chinese pagoda or with a pyramid or a palustre house. This homogeneity of aesthetics impoverishes us, but like everything, has a positive side: it brings us closer. The balance between these two things, tradition and progress (whatever that is) is unstable. We naturally want both: the preservation of an identity and a history, but also innovation and modernity. Cities like Faro are a good example of the result of these drives."

Afonso Cruz

Credits

text: Afonso Cruz

lecture: Teresa Férim

live drawing with sand: JAS

acknowledgments: Marco Lopes, Maria Augusta Casaca

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Bio Afonso Cruz

Besides being a writer, Afonso Cruz is also an illustrator and musician of the band The Soaked Lamb. He was born in Figueira da Foz in 1971 and attended the School of Fine Arts in Lisbon, as well as the Higher Institute of Plastic Arts of Madeira. He won several literary and illustration awards. He travelled through more than 50 countries and lives in Alentejo.

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