Journey Into the Invisible: Space, Experience, Representation

Principal Investigator:

• Maria Rita Pais
• Luís Santiago Baptista

Other Investigators:

• Álvaro Domingues
• Susana Oliveira
• Susana Ventura
• Inês Moreira
• Eliana Sousa Santos

Partners: OASRS - Ordem dos Arquitectos Secção Regional Sul, DGArtes, Secretaria de Estado da Cultura, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, City Councils of Lisbon, Oeiras, Sintra, Almada, Setúbal, Caldas da Rainha, Mértola e Mourão, Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Casa da Arquitectura, Thalia Theatre, Baia do Tejo, Friends Association of the Portuguese Coast Artillery and of the editorial house Homem do Saco, as well as the collaboration of several offices and persons that are directly or indirectly involved with the project.

Abstract: The Journey into the Invisible one is a path by what is out of reach, of what exists beyond our everyday life. Sites that for diverse reasons exist in the shadow, inaccessible or inapprehensible spaces. Nonetheless, these places persist in our culture, are enrolled in the collective memory. As a result, they exist essentially under the form of images, events and narratives, factual and fictional, real and imaginary. The Journey into the Invisible is thus the precise moment when these places cross and overlap their representations, activating and intensifying the experience of the spaces. Therefore, the Journey into the Invisible is not a tour. Nor it can be carried our through mere visit. It is more an itinerary of experiences between places that we are unaware of, we ignore or we forgot of. Yet these places are there, suspended and expectant, waiting for the moment in which our lives will traverse them, with a mix of curiosity and astonishment. A series of experiences in which all will be invited to register in the most diverse forms, participating in the challenge of making the invisible become visible.