Botanical gardens bring the landscape, design, community, and scientific inquiry into close conversation. Emerging from medicinal gardens and private collections that were dedicated to classifying plants, botanical gardens were developed into institutions where specimens gathered across regions and climates could be cultivated and presented to public audiences. Their evolving position in society produced a distinct architectural repertoire, from greenhouses and conservatories to herbaria and laboratories and, eventually, visitor centers and hospitality spaces. Architecture remains integral to the botanical garden as an instrument of cultivation and a framework for organizing and studying the field of botany.

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Videos

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Portuguese studio FAHR 021.3 has created a temporary wooden installation that transformed the facade of the Cine-Teatro Garrett, a historic building in the city center of Póvoa, Portugal. Titled Ensaio 04, the project is a geometric study of a curved surface built from straight planes of poplar wood, resulting in a distorted perspective.

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Marked by refinement and purity of design, Portuguese architecture historically maintains a sharp relationship between the built object and the territory in which it is situated.

Names like Álvaro Siza Vieira, Eduardo Souto de Moura, and Fernando Távora remain the primary references when considering Portuguese architectural production. However, beyond these great masters, a group of young firms established over the last ten years has demonstrated strength and relevance in shaping this new output. In this landscape, new attributes are emphasized: an aesthetic and constructive sensibility rooted in modern minimalism—yet questioned and renewed in accordance with contemporary social and philosophical parameters; the merging of hybrid fields, from art and product design to architecture and urbanism; and an increasingly collaborative process based on collective ideas.

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Adaptive reuse is shifting from simple preservation to active revitalization, a process of structurally rescuing and reprogramming architectural typologies whose original functions are no longer relevant. The obsolescence of architectural spaces occurs for varied reasons: sociological shifts, leaving spaces uninhabited; technological advances, phasing out specific machinery; and economic changes, making centralized functions necessary. The strategy of repurposing focuses on achieving spatial and functional longevity through minimal interventions, allowing the original structure to serve as the memory anchor of the project.

This wave of adaptive reuse treats the historic shell as a limited resource, prioritizing structural permanence over surface aesthetics. Designers are engaging in a sort of archaeological process by exposing the original structural essence: the heavy timber, raw concrete, or monumental masonry. Interventions are confined to meeting new programmatic needs, often appearing as an independent insertion within the ancient envelope. This contrast redefines the building's lifespan not as a singular narrative but as a layered story of continuous events.

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Boat docks and harbors are liminal spaces where the shore marks the meeting of land and water, and serve as a space for the convergence of culture, industry, and community. For those who work at sea, from commercial fishers to marine freight operators, the dock is a threshold between labor and rest, between oceanic uncertainty and terrestrial stability. For others, the dock serves as a gateway to recreation, sport, and adventure, accommodating everything from rowing clubs to family sailing trips. And for many who never board a vessel, the dock offers a powerful connection to the marine environment where one can pause, observe, and engage with the rhythmic tides.

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