Bárbara Maçães E Costa

Expertise Drawing and cartographyModern environmental history and aestheticsLandscape architecture Bárbara Maçães Costa is an architect and academic. She studied Architecture at the University of Porto, Drawing at the University of Lisbon, and holds a PhD in Architecture and Sciences of the City from the EPFL. Outside of academia, she works primarily in the fields of landscape and urbanism. Her teaching and research cover these disciplines, with a particular interest in cartography and modern environmental aesthetics. She is Senior Lecturer at Kingston University London and Visiting Lecturer at EPFL. Education Architecture and Sciences of the City | PhD 2016 – 2021 EPFL Directed by Harry Gugger, EPFL / Emily Scott, UO Drawing | MFA 2011 – 2013 Faculdade de Belas-Artes da Universidade de Lisboa (FBAUL) Directed by António Pedro Architecture | Pre-Bologna Licentiate 2001 – 2008 Faculty of Architecture University of Porto (FAUP) Directed by Camilo Rebelo ResearchCurrent Research Fields My teaching focuses on the relationship between architecture and landscape. I have explored this topic in the context of theory courses on modernism, landscape-based design studios, and mixed units focusing on representation, particularly cartography. In all cases, I aim to challenge the perception of buildings as reified icons, presenting them instead as environmental artefacts that embody certain histories and ideologies.My research interests include the disciplinary boundaries between architecture and landscape; the tension between site and drawing as the primary loci of the project; the role of drawing as a mediator between theory and practice; and the debate between autonomy and realism in the neo-avant-garde. I am also interested in the problematic legacy of cartography within the Enlightenment project and its post-war critique, particularly in relation to the philosophical category of 'totality'. Teaching & PhDCourses AR-476 UE U : CartographyTeaching unit on cartography and environmental relations in architecture.https://ueucartography.comAR-505 Modernity, Architecture & the EnvironmentTheory course on modernist environmental aesthetics in architecture.https://modernityae.com