Albert Camus and Damien Hirst: Always looking on the absurd side of life

The aim of this text is to consider the notions of life and art, revealed in Camus’s texts, mainly The Myth of Sisyphus (published in French in 1942) and The Rebel (1951), and extrapolate them to the present state of contemporary art by analysing a few artworks by Damien Hirst, the richest living artist, a modern Sisyphus in the self-awareness he manifests towards the incongruity of his work. Always looking on the absurd side of life dwells on the inevitability of life and art, accepting the fact, according to Camus’s words, that: the impossible remains impossible. Instead of denying the meaningless and finding some form of redemption, both French writer and British artist have embraced this potential and have used the absurd as a form of conveying meaning to their art. Hirst’s artworks that will be referred in this text include the series: The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991); Mother and Child Divided (1993); For the Love of God (2007) and For Heaven’s Sake (2008).

Between the centre and the margins: Services location, economic (re)structuring and quality of life in metropolitan periurban areas.

This paper aims to discuss the specificities of the role of services in the economic structuring and in the social liveliness and attractiveness of periurban areas. Drawing upon on the result of an empirical work developed in 5 different parishes of Lisbon Metropolitan area, which represent five categories of periurban spaces previously identified, it is analysed the role of services in these “in-between” territories and the way they are important in the spatial economic structuring of these areas and in the quality of life and well-being of their inhabitants and users. A tentative typology for framing the analysis of the role of services on periurban metropolitan spaces is suggested and some policy implications are pointed out.

A industrialização como criadora de conjuntos habitacionais para o operariado: o caso do Bairro da Empresa de Cimentos de Leiria: Maceira-Liz

A Revolução Industrial consistiu num amplo conjunto de mudanças que ocorreu nos séculos XVIII e XIX na Europa, em que a grande metamorfose na sociedade sucedeu devido à substituição do trabalho manual pelo uso da máquina. Constituiu-se como fenómeno abrangente que congregou fatores demográficos, sociais, ideológicos, políticos e económicos. A busca de melhores condições de vida e de trabalho, foi fator decisivo para o aumento de população nos grandes núcleos urbanos, circunstância que determinou a procura de uma solução que resolvesse a questão do alojamento da classe trabalhadora. Surgiram assim teorias utópicas e sociais e também modelos urbanísticos dos quais se salientam: o Falanstério de Charles Fourier, Familistério de Jean-Baptiste Godin entre outros. Em Portugal, a industrialização ocorreu mais tarde que na restante Europa, assim como as evoluções e transformações associadas a esta. É neste contexto, que a partir do século XIX, o sector agrícola no país foi sendo gradualmente substituído pela indústria. O aumento da industrialização conduziu a um incremento da concentração de mão-de-obra próxima de grandes cidades industriais, ocorrência que fomentou o aparecimento dos primeiros núcleos habitacionais destinados à classe operária. A cidade sofreu, assim, alterações assinaladas por uma série de acontecimentos resultantes da Revolução Industrial, a par da falta de estratégias ligadas à questão da habitação para as classes desfavorecidas. É neste enquadramento que surge o Bairro do Pessoal da Empresa de Cimento de Leiria, Maceira-Liz. Este procurou responder às necessidades dos trabalhadores oferecendo-lhes boa qualidade de vida. Foi dotado de infraestruturas e equipamentos como a “Casa do Pessoal” ou a Cooperativa Abastecedora, entre outros, necessários ao bom funcionamento e permitindo uma maior sociabilidade entres os seus habitantes Desta forma, para demostrar a sua importância, introduz-se o Bairro do Pessoal da E.C.L no estudo do contexto internacional e nacional. Observam-se e criam-se relações com os modelos das cidades utópicas do século XIX e os conjuntos industriais em Portugal, detentores de alojamento destinado à classe trabalhadora, fazendo uma análise urbanística detalhada do Bairro do Pessoal de Maceira- Liz, uma “Utopia” construída segundo o espirito progressista do seu fundador Henrique Sommer.A partir do estudo dos fundamentos teórico-práticos, da forma de implantação e construção, bem como dos vários planos elaborados para este complexo - que demonstravam uma tentativa de inovar, através da construção de respostas às mudanças da sociedade e arquitetura em Portugal- poderá observar- -se que Maceira-Liz tinha alternativas para resolver a situação sócio- laboral dos operários e tentava resolver questões como a insalubridade da habitação operária da I República. O Bairro do Pessoal de E.C.L. ou Bairro de Maceira-Liz é um dos mais significativos exemplos de urbanismo do tipo fabril em Portugal, que permite fazer uma reflexão crítica e arquitetónica do papel que a arquitetura assume face à questão das diferenças sociais de classes, ao mesmo tempo que se propõe uma solução de revitalização do Bairro a fim de contribuir para a sua preservação e conservação da sua identidade; ABSTRACT: The Industrial Revolution consisted in a wide range of changes that occurred in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Europe, where the great metamorphosis in society succeeded due to the replacement of manual work by the use of machinery. It was established as a wide-ranging phenomenon which gathered demographic, social, ideological, political and economic factors. The search of better conditions of life and work was a decisive factor for the increase of population in major urban centers, a circumstance that led to the search for a solution to solve the question of working-class housing. Thus, utopian and social theories emerged, as also as urban models, of which we stand out: the Charles Fourier Phalanstery, Jean- Baptiste Godin Familistère and others. In Portugal, the industrialization occurred later than in the rest of Europe, as well as developments and changes associated with this. It is in this context that, starting in the nineteenth century, the agricultural sector in the country had been gradually replaced by the industry. The increased industrialization has led to an enlarged concentration of labor work close to major industrial cities, occurrence that fomented the appearance of the first housing units for the working class. So, the city suffered changes shown by a series of events resulting from the Industrial Revolution, together with the lack of strategies linked to the issue of housing for disadvantaged classes. It is in this context that comes the Neighborhood “Bairro do Pessoal da Empresa de Cimento de Leirio, Maceira – Liz”. This tried to respond to workers’ needs by offering them good quality of life. It was gifted with infrastructure and equipment as the “Staff Home” or the Cooperative Supplying, among others, needed for a proper functioning and allowing a greater sociability among its inhabitants. So, to demonstrate its importance, the Quarter of the Cement Company is introduced in the study of national and international context. Relationships with models of utopian cities in the nineteenth and the industrial plants in Portugal, owners of housing for the working class, are observed and created, making a detailed and urban analysis of the Quarter of the Cement Company, a “utopia “ built according to the progressive spirit of its founder Henry Sommer . From the study of the theoretical and practical fundamentals, the way of implementation and construction, as well as the various plans drawn up for this complex - which showed a determination to innovate by building responses to changes in society and architecture in Portugal - it can be founded that Maceira -Liz had alternatives to solve the socio- labor situation of the workers and tried to solve issues such as the unhealthiness of the working room of the First Republic. The Quarter of the Cement Company is one of the most significant examples of the industrial type urbanism in Portugal, which allows a critical and architectural reflection of the role that architecture assumes in what concerns the social class differences issues, while it is proposed a revitalization solution for the Neighborhood in order to contribute to the preservation and conservation of its identity

Socio-demographic and Health Aspects Associated with the Quality of Life in the Elderly of the Family Health Strategy. An Analytical Study

to analyze the association between the socio-demographic and health aspects to the quality of life (QOL) of elderly peoplelinked to the ESF.