Joana Rafael (b.1979) is an architect, researcher, lecturer and ghostwriter, currently based in Porto, Portugal, working between architecture, (issues of) ecology and visual culture. She holds a PhD (2017) in Visual Cultures and an MRes (2009) in Research Architecture from Goldsmiths, University of London, an MA (2008) from the Metropolis Graduate Programme in Architecture and Urban Culture, run by the Centre for Contemporary Culture, Barcelona and a degree (2002) in Architecture from the University of Minho, Guimarães. Joana teaches Contextual Studies and Contemporary Culture -related courses, and is a member of ID+ (Research Institute for Design, Media and Culture) and CEGOT (Center for Studies in Geography and Spatial Planning). Joana is also a certified sustainable agriculture and biological farming practitioner.
Dirty Paths for a Green Mandate
Held / Published in portuguese as Caminho Sujo para um Mandato Limpo
in FIACED II, Penafiel, Portugal
Dirty Paths for a Green Mandate focuses on causes and solutions for environmental and planetary crises such as that brought by the huge amount of waste that we produce and dispose of globally, and on interests that offer objectives to be achieved through the mobilization of technical innovation: ie manufacturing, purchasing and using materials that reduce the volume and toxicity of the waste generated and favor reuse, recycling and composting instead of disposal. Within this focus, this paper highlights requirements of additional investment in factories, machines and the replacement of one type of waste with another. It argues, these are solutions that, although they are perceived as achievements towards sustainability goals, idealize the life cycle and endless renewal, ignore resources and act involved in the production of more waste, inherent in the design of alternative processes and substitute products, exacerbating even more environmental and ethical problems. As part of this hypothesis and through notes for research on waste reserves, this paper propels that the objectives set out highlight the fact that this set of solutions is governed by a mandate, in fact, still green and calls for comprehensive programs to discuss methods and techniques, together with a better understanding of the problems, in current education systems and campaigns.
