Temporary interventions and permanent marks in the contemporary city

Abstract

This research aims to investigate current temporary interventions as a positive way of transforming places. The starting point is the fact that contemporary society has been going through a specific moment of high modernity, a period that takes on characteristics of transience in various spheres of social and economic relations (ephemeral condition), which imprints some traits on collective life spaces, such as a sense of hostility, individualism and superficial relationships. Temporary interventions – intentional and contesting –, in this sense, function as catalysts of closeness and intimacy, not only in space itself, but also in relations among individuals in the urbs, acting reactively against this unfavorable state of pure alienation. My aim, therefore, is to check whether temporary interventions leave permanent marks in the city. To achieve that, I present the analysis of two temporary interventions in the form of public art interventions: Arte de Portas Abertas, in Rio de Janeiro, and Girona em Flor, in Girona, Spain. 

Key words: temporary interventions, public art, collective spaces, contemporary city.