as part of the bienal’21 fotografia do porto, nuno pimenta has designed the ‘double gazing’ exhibition bringing together the work of photographers carlos barradas and maría sainz arandia. the design project recycles and rearranges industrial materials, such as glass transportation racks, standard size tube lamps, and faulty or used double glazing windows. seeking to align the formal language with the character of the displayed content, which is targeted towards the field of social and environmental justice, the exhibition emerges as an exercise of resilience and environmental awareness within the public space — a busy access platform of siza viera’s são bento metro station, in porto, portugal.
all images courtesy of bruno lança – artworks, unless stated otherwise
to construct the exhibition, nuno pimenta has selected the industrial materials directly from the leftovers of a big scale window factory. each one of the 14 exhibition clusters has a unique combination of a standard size transportation rack, a group of pre-existing double glazing windows, a lighting set that results from the combination of T8 led tubes in three different standard sizes and backlit vinyl prints. due to the varying sizes of the windows, each of these clusters was individually designed and crafted using some small additions that can easily be reverted so that all components can return to their normal usage, be reused, or continue its recycling process.
the design of the ‘double gazing’ adopts a similar approach to the content presented by the two photographers. carlos barradas and maría sainz arandia worked closely with community initiatives in the field of social and environmental justice both in porto (urbinat) and valencia (cabanyal horta), capturing these social spaces and their narratives of affection and resistance in their work, which is exhibited as part of bienal’21 fotografia do porto from 14th may until 27th june 2021.
image courtesy of nuno pimenta
project info:
name: double gazing
artists: carlos barradas, maría sainz arandia
curated by: maíra villela, virgílio ferreira
location: são bento metro station, porto portugal
exhibition design: nuno pimenta
organization and production: ci.clo
co-production: câmara municipal do porto
patron: banco BPI, fundação ‘la caixa’
financial support: direção-geral das artes
partners: photoespaña, artworks, metro do porto
designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom
