In the centre of Porto, hanging off Boavista avenue and next to the noisy VCI, is a place where almost nothing happens, Foco. In Foco Housing, this modernist neighbourhood, time seems to be suspended. Buildings could be constructed all around it, full of city mutations, and the neighbourhood would still retain its aesthetics and atmosphere.
The neighbourhood is like a refreshed body, with its head resting on Avenida da Boavista and its feet on the VCI, always in contradiction to the constant movement and noise of the surrounding city. The neighbours meet at the entrance to the blocks, the lady on the 1st left cleans the balcony, the doorman watches over the majestic atrium in solitude. Meanwhile, in the city, new movements emerge daily, the metro unloads thousands of people, the city dwellers take to the streets unbridled in the motivation to experience a new day. In this study of the city and its relationship with the residential neighbourhood, we focus on its citizens and how the different spaces are experienced, reflecting their movements.
We consider Alexander Rossini’s work to be very pertinent to the work developed during the first semester. Therefore, since the work is based on the production of a book with photographs resulting from observing and capturing the lived space of architecture (in this case, a neighbourhood and its nearest metro station), it was appropriate to choose these authors, as they bring together a universe of characteristics, techniques and ways of photographing that are very compatible with our choices.
Alexander Rossini, who has a master’s degree in architecture, began his career as a photographer by exploring light, studying the influence of light and its theoretical and practical applications. In his projects, he works with light and space in order to enhance it and transpose the atmosphere of the built or natural space into the image.
The approach to architecture in his work and the importance he gives to light, using it to enhance his points of view, emphasises the characteristics of the spaces he photographs. These are the main reasons why Alexander Rossini was chosen as the photographic and methodological reference for this work.
