(IN)TANGIBLE HERITAGE(S)
Abstract
In the 16th century, Portugal established in São Tomé and Principe the first plantation economy in the tropics based on slave labour and sugar monoculture. Later, from the mid-19th century to 1975, large plantations called Roças were developed to produce coffee and cocoa for highly profitable export production. In these plantations, thousands of indentured workers were employed. As a result, Roças embody the traces of merciless labour conditions (Umbelina, 2019) and a spatial organisation designed for white privilege and their hegemony. These settlements were multifunctional complex, including a hierarchical group of houses, large agro-industrial constructions, and supporting facilities. Distinct cultures and roles characterise each social group living in Roças across time. This vast heritage derives from European architectural and structural patterns adapted to the tropical environment. Nowadays, roças serve several purposes, from luxurious hotels to houses of large communities of squatters, and still, several roças are in ruin being consumed by nature. The analysis of this heritage is relevant since these settlements can be future-directed legacies, which can contribute to a global cultural overhaul and sustainable development. A comprehensive overview of this context allows us to understand past and present, considering tangible and intangible values. Critical and diachronic studies on the colonial and contemporary heritage are integrated by studying three different roças, in their original design and as they are today. Roças were initially designed for isolation (Dantas, 2021).Their original spatial organisation aims at segregating different types of inhabitants, and their position in the territory makes them isolated islands inside the big isle of São Tomé. By using space syntax analysis (Hillier and Hanson, 1984), we aim to analyse how the physical environment of roças influences human experience and behaviour. We study sensory access, behavioural affordance, and sociality through space syntax and in situ analysis (Montello, 2007).
Sara Eloy focuses on interdisciplinary challenges related to Digital Technologies applied to Architecture. Her main areas of research include shape grammar design systems, Virtual and Augmented Reality, CAAD and Digital Heritage. Eloy develops research activities in ISTAR (Information Sciences Technologies and Architecture Research Center). Eloy has led teams developing digital solutions based in VR and AR for heritage visualization. Eloy organized several exhibitions in collaboration with international researchers, including Lisbon Architecture Triennale (2013, 2019), whose digital contents were applied to visualize, interact, and immerse multiple end-users into architectural and heritage context. Eloy graduated in Architecture (1998) and has a PhD in Architecture (2012). She was director of the Department of Architecture and Urbanism (2013-2016), director of the Integrated Master in Architecture (2013-2016), and director of the ISTAR since 2017. She is an Assistant Professor at Iscte with teaching experience on CAAD, Drawing, new technologies applied to Architecture and Research Methodologies.
Stefania Stellacci is an integrated researcher at ISTAR-Iscte and Assistant Investigator (2021-2023), architect with a MSc. in Architecture (University of Ferrara, 2006), Built Conservation postgraduate degree (Roma3 University, 2007), Ph.D. in Architecture (Iscte, 2018) with distinction. Her areas of expertise are critical heritage studies, multiple-criteria decision analysis, sustainable heritage management, inclusive design, digital transformation.
Rui Brito is a fifth-year student of the master’s degree in architecture at ISCTE, Lisbon. He is currently writing his master’s thesis on the topic of Shared Architecture, namely the roças in São Tomé and Príncipe and how the spatial layout of the roças influences the behavior of its inhabitants. This work is being done under the scope of the group Just and Inclusive City.
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Friday 17th June, 2022