Loading...
3 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
- Building the landscape. Rehabilitation and renewal of traditional mediterranean structuresPublication . Bragança, Carlos; Marçal Gonçalves, MartaOne of the main features of Mediterranean landscapes, particularly in limestone areas, is the terraced land frame, usually supported by dry stone walls. In addition to the scenic aspects and landscape identity, network compartmentalization established by terraces, property division walls, pathways and traditional paths, shapes ecological corridors that frame the different human activities. It is a structure whose conservation is particularly important in areas of intense human impact, or rapid transformation, such as the urban-tourist spaces of the Algarve, where the hills displayed by such structures form the background scenario. In order to put in value their importance for landscape conservation and evolution, this presentation will focus on the interrelated ecological, aesthetic, symbolic, socioeconomic and political aspects that influence the spatial distribution and image of the terraces. Of course, the values that local people can assign to their landscapes will be determinant, but specially at the Algarve, the role of tourists as outsiders must be seriously take into account. We then argue that the future of the dry stone walls structure must be prospected into the diversity of possible solutions about landscape development as the living part of a whole unit that includes the densest urbanized areas with less ecological functions. We call such unit the urban-touristic region of Algarve, inspired on two utopic references: the ‘urban regions’ and the ‘Agroplia’. It means that we try to use landscape as an instrument of knowledge and acknowledgement –democratic governance– of regional spaces.
- The winds and the waves that carved out today’s coastal landscape of Sines (Portugal)Publication . Fernandes, Jacinta; Bizarro, Joana; Loureiro, Nuno de Santos; Santos, CarlosThe Atlantic maritime winds and waves, as natural forces, shaped the physiography of Sines, a peculiar rocky cliff cape at the western Portuguese coast, as well as cultural processes have shaped its spatial arrangement since ancient times. Despite its small size, Sines port has always been an important maritime trade corner. In the 1970s, winds and waves of modernity reached the Sines coast with an imposing industrial-port complex. We present the history of Sines cape focusing on its landscape dynamics. The patch-corridor-matrix model allowed us to describe the mosaic transformation of such a unique landscape. Spatial information was gathered mostly from historical maps processed with digital tools. A time series of thematic maps (landscape mosaic pattern) was obtained, covering more than 120 years. Current results emphasize that this landscape underwent relevant transformations related to human activities since former times, although disturbance and fragmentation of the landscape were strongly intensified after the arrival of the post-modern wave of the industrial culture. The present study provides a contribution to the history of the Portuguese and Mediterranean coastal landscapes; and results could be used to support decision making in sustainable management of this territory.
- Estruturas mediterrânicas tradicionais. A utopia da paisagem urbano-turística do AlgarvePublication . Bragança, Carlos; Marçal Gonçalves, Marta; Prates, Gonçalo Nuno DelgadoUma das características marcantes das paisagens mediterrânicas é a armação dos terrenos montanhosos em socalcos suportados por muros de pedra seca. Além do carácter identitário que imprimem na paisagem, as construções milenares em pedra seca estabelecem uma rede de compartimentação com várias funções ou utilidades, como suporte de terras, drenagem, armazenamento de águas, divisão de propriedade, limitação de caminhos e veredas. Para além destas funções, focar-nos-emos de forma especial nos valores sociais e éticos capazes de gerar alternativas de evolução da paisagem. No Algarve, se bem que os valores atribuídos pelas populações locais sejam determinantes nessa evolução, o papel dos turistas e população residente estrangeira pode, no entanto, ser fundamental para gerar novos contextos cénicos. O nosso argumento gira em torno do futuro da estrutura dos muros de pedra seca, a prospetar dentro da diversidade de possíveis soluções sobre o desenvolvimento da paisagem envolvente do sistema urbano, enquanto parte viva de uma unidade que inclui as áreas mais densamente urbanizadas. Designamos essa unidade região urbanoturística do Algarve, inspirada em duas referências utópicas: a de ‘região urbana’ e a de ‘agropólia’, em que a paisagem é assumida como bem comum e instrumento de conhecimento e reconhecimento –governança democrática– de espaços regionais.