01.05.2011

A conversation with Arch. Cristina Salvador

01.05.2011

A conversation with Arch. Cristina Salvador

'The experience at Namibe was how to get to the bottom of the issue, to what's not covered with anything else.'

You are the first woman to have a say in Artes & Letras. Was it difficult to enter the profession as a woman?

When I started the profession, a “funny” situation happened to me while working with Arch. Manuel Tainha. We went to a construction site and, at a certain point, the architect told the contractor to solve a certain problem with me. And the man burst out laughing as if it were a perfect joke. He thought that a woman, specially a young one, could not solve any problem for him. In the beginning, this happened in the construction sites. It was complicated. It was a field that was conquered and that, fortunately, was overcome. It was a struggle, in all professions. It is not like that now, although we always have a job, which is working at home, which adds to the time when we practice the profession. It is a slightly more difficult position.

Desert and Architecture are two words that are contradictory. Why did you decide to go to the Namibe desert to do research work?

The reason for this question is perfectly clear. There were several reasons, but there was essentially one: I thought I needed to understand what happens, in terms of construction, in extreme geographical situations, in this case; although I am also interested in other extreme situations, such as economic ones, namely, in precariously built neighborhoods. This matters because, in the end, it allows us to understand how it is possible that, despite everything, there are buildings – which, in the deserts case, are shelters for pastors – so interesting, from the resource management point of view, and even aesthetically. It is like getting to the bottom of the issue, to what’s not covered with anything else rather than the function for which it is intended and the restricted material that can be used. I went in search of these exciting situations, from the viewer´s point of view, that are the result of a management of the resources and the function for which they are destined and that, many times, are completed with things that have to do with the way people react to those same resources. And I found a lot. For what I wanted, which was to try to get to the bottom of the issue, the experience helped. It is very important for me, as an architect, and perhaps for all people related to construction, to spend some time on these issues. It was a very important experience, because it forced me to reflect on the subject, having it been the subject of a conference, which forced me to join the reflections that I have been doing and that continue until today, without stopping. It forced me to give more or less importance to certain things that sometimes occur in my profession and that, perhaps, are not that important.

Your professional career is extremely linked to Angola and you even mentioned that there is a “cleavage between Luanda and the rest of Angola”. What do you think is the architectural solution for that country?

Solutions to urban problems in African cities, in general, have to be found locally. I participated in some research work in the area of ​​urbanism, namely in the comparison between the city of Luanda and Maputo, which was a job that interested me a lot and from which I’ve learned a lot. With these works, I realized that each city has its own conditions and that solutions have to be found within them. Researchers can help but the solutions must be local. I am very happy to reflect on that, and if that reflection is of any use, I am very interested in that. In the case of Luanda, it is a city that has very serious, structural problems, problems with infrastructure and equipment, which have to be seen as a general problem, from the city center to the expansion areas, and which has to be seen with care and concern, and not paying attention to only the most visible issues.

What are the conditions that most interfere with the architect’s activity?

Everything has its influence. In general, we do not choose the projects in which we will participate, we do not have that option, they are comissions. Our job is to find solutions to concrete problems and play with the type of work, with what is possible to do and with the available funds, in each concrete situation. The problems have been changing. At this moment there is a great difficulty in the sense that it is necessary to have a huge detail about what is going to be built, in a very short time, which does not allow the projects to be verified, or well seen in all their applications. It is an effort that needs to be made, and which reflects an urgency to build, because we have to present some projects in record time, which leads to a lot of stress. These situations affect the results.

You have several projects carried out in partnership with Betar. Are there any that have marked you particularly?

The building at Alto do Longo, coordinated by me, which started with Eng. Rocha Cabral, and then continued with Eng. Maria do Carmo, was a project that gave me a great pleasure to do and it is built. That is gratifying because some projects have not been built, which still hurts a lot. And these end up being more striking than the works done, that go on their own path. The basic school EB 1,2,3 in Gondifelos was also an interesting project. It started with a contest, there was a time when it was possible to run for contests that interested us the most and those projects were always much more interesting to do. We worked hard because we were interested in doing that job. It doesn’t happen that much now. There were some particularly stimulating contests.

This interview is part of the Artes & Letras Magazine # 20, May 2011
Partially automatic translation from portuguese: some expressions may differ from their actual meaning.

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