Some Kind of Place

"Until 1974, the Portuguese government endorsed a document that classified some kinds of places as ‘irrelevant for the nation’s growth’. This document rigidly divided spaces into public and private categories, leaving communal places like uncultivated pieces of land—or uncult spaces—in a liminal state, uncategorisable and placeless. Despite being obsolete for fifty years, the document’s legacy persists, associating uncult spaces with neglect and abandonment.

Some Kind of Place is a video essay set in the outskirts of Lisbon, where Sofia Paz explores these neglected spaces. Guided by spontaneous encounters with signs of common things in common places, the project aims to restore a sense of place and tangibility to these liminal spaces. Through the process, it reflects on the methodological contradictions inherent in design’s ability to gather, arrange, and display information, prompting the question: When does an intentional act of place-making become an act of erasing space?"