experimenting design through the soul of “fado

FROM “NOTHING” TO “CREATION”
EXPERIMENTING DESIGN THROUGH THE SOUL OF “FADO” AND THE POETRY
OF SAUDADE”
Américo Da Conceição Mateus¹
Fernando Carvalho Rodrigues ²
1-Industrial Design Department
IADE, Escola Superior de Design
Researcher member of UNIDCOM / IADE
Av. Carlos I, 4
1200-649 Lisbon
Phone: +351.213939600
Fax: +351.213978561
e-mail: [email protected]
2- Head of the communication and
Design research center UNIDCOM / IADE
Av. Carlos I, 4
1200-649 Lisbon
Phone: +351.213939600
Fax: +351.213978561
e-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: This research has its epistemological background in the scientific study of
emotion and emotional experiences. It has two academic purposes. The first is developing
a new teaching methodology with an experimental root, using a sensorial approach at the
classes, integrating all the five senses within the learning process and skills development
of the design project. This approach is based upon the teaching experiences of the Reggio
Emilia Group. The second purpose is to build a workshop of emotional/ cultural basis
where the Fado Music and the Saudade Poetry will be used as the new sources of
inspiration and emotional research. The students/ creators should understand that the
Process of Creating is more significant and potentially more innovative than just being
focused on the results. The feeling that a path to the Portuguese design is unaccomplished
has motivated this investigation. Therefore we want to re-know each other, re-visiting our
essence, fall in love again with the emotional richness of our soul belonging to one people
and one community in order to be able to re-imagine our future.
The starting point of this journey is our Nothingness because we believe that in the
structure of our emptiness, of nothing inside is where all the creativity is. We have to
vanish our soul away from the rules, from the stereotypes, from the boundaries that
surround and influence us. From Nothingness we go to Creation, through a path of
emotion and experience, exploring spontaneity and feelings. We consider that these
research tools and creative work translate the cultural heritage of one people, showing
their virtues and defects. The results of this research will be presented by comparing the
conclusions of each workshop made in two different cultural environments: one at RMIT
(Royal Melbourne Design and Architecture Institute) and the other at IADE (Escola
Superior de Design em Lisboa). Copyright Américo Mateus, F. Carvalho Rodrigues.
Keywords: Emotional and Sentiments science, Emotional and sensorial Design, Design
and Cultural heritage, Project Skills, Portuguese personality
INTRODUCTION
The principles that guided this academic research
were the development and test of a new teaching
methodology based upon cultural background. Within
this new methodological approach, the integration of
senses and feelings into the design process and the
need for a deeper emotional dynamics during the
lessons and the teaching should become drivers for
creativity and enhance the conquer of new research
paths, artistic and conceptual development of the
design project and practice.
The project is focused at the students once the
proposed approach intends to reach higher
participation levels and motivation towards the
classes, through the introduction of different elements
in order to create a new “mistery” and enchantement
while exploring the integration of body, spirit and
mind during the design learning process.
1. THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF EMOTIONS AND
FEELINGS
1.1 Theoretical Background
After the nineties, emotion and reason started to be
studied again with scientif purposes, gathering
antropologists, psycologists, neuroscientists and
resarchers.
Damásio 1 refers that the expression of
human
suffering or joy is mentally and physically
accomplished through the feelings. The feelings are
connected with the mind, as long as the emotions are
connected with the body. Espinosa also concluded
that the feelings and emotions were fundamental for
the balance and human condition2.
Damásio defines emotion as the public part of the
process while the private part of the process is the
feeling. The emotions are actions or movements of
public consequences, reflecting on the voice, in the
face or in certain behaviours, sometimes only
detected through the blood hormone levels.
The feelings occur in the mind, being non visible to
the public and allowing the life regulation.
The emotions preceed the feelings because their
development is based upon simple reactions aiming
the survival of the organism. The feelings are the
mental expression of the remaining levels of
homeostatic regulation. Understanding the human
behavior means considering the emotions` biology
and the relative value of each emotion according to
each circumstance.
The feelings intensity is directly connected with the
degree of the necessary corrections among the several
positive and negative states in order to reach balance
and get an optimum regulation.
1
2
According to Damásio, the feelings translate the
mental manifestations of balance and harmony or
inbalance and desagree, assuming a fundamental role
within the social behaviour.
In some circumstances, Aristóteles, Espinosa, Adam
Smith and David Hume sustained that some emotions
were perfectly rational, but Damásio, following
Stephen Heck uses the term “reasonable” instead of
rational to explain the relation between actions and its
benefic consequences.
Adam Smith defined emotions as the threads of the
social tissue, being rational and emotional, like Hume
and Reid. On the order hand, the romantics
considered that emotions and reason were not
compatible, as Plato regarded emotions as obstacules
to inteligent thinking.
There is a neurobiological definition of emotion,
considering the reactions that occur on the limbic
system. In behavioural terms, the emotion is
translated into an emotional behaviour, being what
the essence is. The emotional behaviour can assume
several forms like the facial expression, the voice
entoation and the practiced acts.
Ekman studied the basic emotions, those associated
with universal and inborn facial expressions, not
mentioning any data about the feelings associated to
that expressions, having a private side. The basic
emotions appear suddenly, have a very short life (only
a few seconds) and include joy, anger, fear, surprise,
repugnance and anguish.
The biological nature of the basic emotions is
universal, once the brain structure determines that
emotions, which are very similar in each culture,
although there are different cultural ways of socially
accepting the expression of the emotions.
There are also culturally specific emotions, which
development depends of its learning process during
the childhood once those kind of emotions only occur
in presence of specific conditions. James Averill
explaines that the se emotions intend to help people to
deal with some cultural demands. Paul Griffith refers
to a third kind of emotions- the superior cognitive
emotions, which are less inborn than the basic
emotions and more inborn than the cultural specific
emotions, like love. The differences towards the basic
emotions are not being associated to a single facial
expression, not being so fast nor automatic.
Although universal too, the superior cognitive
emotions have a bigger cultural variation and take
more time to appear and disappear than the basicn
emotions. Love, guilt, envy, pride, jeallousy, shame
and embarassment are superior cognitive emotions,
whose purpose is to deal with the social environment
complexity, working as “the foundation of the human
society”.
“Ao encontro de Espinosa – As emoções sociais e a neurologia do sentir”- 2003, p.20.
Shakespeare wrote about the possibility of partially analysing the process of feelings, usually seen as single and unified, due to the
tendency of including the notion of feeling when using the word emotion.
Positive and Negative Conecept of Emotion
The negative concept of emotion remains in the
occidental culture since Plato, when the emotions
were considered obstacules for the development of
intelligent activity. Darwin reinforced this concept by
assuring that the emotions utility did not have any
contemporary value.
Considering the positive concept of emotion, the
emotions are regarded as fundamental for the
intelligent activity, as long as there is a balance
between emotions and reason, once the advantages of
having emotions are higher than the disadvantages,
allowing human survival.3 The emotional learning is
the result of an inborn capability to learn some things
instead of others according to the existing
environmental data. Frank revealed the incorporation
of some emotional expressions into the human
physiology as the superior cognitive emotions in
order to achieve credibilidade and solve some
commitment problems, which would be hard to deal
with only through the reason. Hobbes and Kant
considered the human selfish nature and the moral
behaviour, suggesting that the emotions should not
interfere in any action and so reinforcing the negative
concept of the emotion. Adam Smith made an
association of morality and emotion, as some
emotions defined as “moral feelings” had the purpose
of helping man in their moral behaviour.
.2
Cultural diffences and common emotional
heritage
The emotions reveal one kind of
“universal
language” gathering human beings and creating like
one only family, once their cultural differences are
not so strong as their shared common emotional
heritage4.
The emotional cultural theory defines emotions as
acquired behaviors that are transmitted culturally, like
the languages. Following these assumptions, people
from different cultures should have different
emotions. In reality, in every culture there are
emotions, which are not acquired because they are
parto f the human brain. 5
.3
Emotion and Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence assumes the existence of a
balance between emotion and reason, when one does
not controle totally the other. Aristóteles uses this
principle as the basis of the ethic system, where
virtues were the intermedium points between the
extrems of the excess or lack of a certain emotion.
This half-term concept is similar to the notion of
emotional intelligence, considering the balance and
controle of emotions and reason as well as the ability
of properly reading the others´emotions.
Emotion is essential for the development of the moral
behaviour and for the human ability of virtue. While
the joy, as a basic emotion, lasts for a few seconds,
the hapiness is a humor with bigger duration. The
humors can increase or reduce the human
susceptibility towards specific emotional stimuli.
Several actions can be taken in order to release
emotional pressure, like speaking, writing, neurotic
simptoms or artistic creativity. The colour does not
affect human emotions directly but has effect in the
humor, once part of our emotional reaction to colou
ris inborn.
Like the visual art, the music affects the emotions
indirectly because it can change the humor as a
technology that allows the sensibility of the
perceptive attitudes and the rising of pleasure.
2. USING THE SENSES FOR TEACHING
.1
The teaching experience at the Reggio Emília
The teaching approach first developed at the Italian
preschools in Reggio Emilia allowed the retinking of
the traditional limitations of the teacher-directed
curriculum, once they concluded that a one-direction
curriculum had negative effects, with consequences in
terms of intellectual dependency. In these schools, the
children have an environment surrounded of painting,
sculptural and architectural masterpieces, considering
art as a natural vehicle for students to learn, explore
and solve problems and encourage creativity.
Edwards and Hiller6 (1993) refer several learning
phenomena on arts and creative activities, especially
the students’ development ability when confronted
with reasoning capacities, dealing with analysis,
synthesis and events evaluation, during experimental
sessions in class. There are several forms of
expression and the students’ ideas representation that
can reach different formats, as words, gestures,
music, movements, painting, forms, etc. The share of
knowledge and perspectives with others increases
one’s own knowledge capacity, allowing a review and
sometimes a different view on one’s own work. While
appealing to creativity, the teacher shall be the guide
and not impose his/her ideas or vision to the students,
who can learn with activities that make sense and
3 Basic emotions like fear and anger prepare the body for escaping or fighting, while joy and anxiety can work as motivating agents
towards the practice or absence of some acts.
4
In Evans, Emoção, a Ciència do Sentimento, 2003, p.XIII
5
6
cit. in Encouraging creativity in early childhood classrooms, 1995, p. 1.
have a purpose, integrated in several areas and
themes. When the experiences have a meaning for the
students, a wider curricular learning is possible
allowing them to have a better perception of the
interrelations of the phenomena.
Clark7 (1994) also concludes that the students take
advantage from medium-long term experiences, when
conducted in a flexible way, towards a deeper
exploration in open projects.
The teacher should be a resource, a guide, a partner, a
supervisor that delivers problems to the students and
helps them to research and discoverer using creativity
and integrated knowledge.
Edwards e Springate (1995) select several variables to
manage during the classes in order to arise and
develop creativity. One variable is the time8 and the
other is the space, an environment that should be
ergonomic, confortable, inviting, with artistic pieces
and aesthectics elements that appeal to research and
creation. The materials have also a fundamental role,
once several materials increase the tools available for
use and the learning creative potential.The class
environment should be open, free, reflecting the
encouragement of risk-taking, innovation and artistic
activity, sustaining a balance between chaos and total
organization. Workshops and team work are essential
for increasing trust and expressing individual
creativity. The variables can be mixed focusing into
activities where the different techniques and several
materials are used by the students, experimenting and
exploring their creative potential. Lowenfeld (1959)9
considers the importance of the children participation
in their learning, enhancing their world of experiences
and expressions within the Reggio Emilia practice,
where the child has the central position in the
curriculum, challenging the established cultural
7
paradigms, apealling for all the possibilities, in order
to reach out the search limits and the students
creativity, with flexible and diverse materials and
spaces. Time is essential for the maturation of
children´s ideas and its respect reveals biological and
cultural wisdom.
Edwards, Gandini e Forman (1996)10 studied the
child´s need and right to be able to use multiple
modalities of expression in order to interpret,
understand and communicate experiences.
The child has competence and able to develop highly
complex ideas and forms of communicating using
artistic materials.
The teachers do not follow a formal class planning
and the projects arise from collaboration and
partnership as the basis of the Reggio Emilia theory
and practice.
The collaboration among students originates
multiples perspectives that allow a work with more
richness and depth. 11 Mallaguzzi (1996) defines
school as “a system of interactions and relashionships
“ and his concept was truly developed in the Reggio
Emilia group, in open environments where creativity
and knowledge are the basic foundations. 12 In order to
avoid that school is only a life shadow, the teacher
should encourage the use of the senses and the
emotions, helping to develop an orientated research
and collaboration, where surprise and diversity are
present in the creation process, enabling students to
be critical and thinking constructors of knowledge.
2.2 Integrating senses in the learning process and in
the design Project
Edwards e Springate (1995) highlight the importance
of using every occasion to inspire the students, using
memory and the senses as direct inspirational sources,
Op. cit. idem, p. 2.
8
When a child is looking for results exploring an activity with motivation, the limit should not be very short nor should occur abrupt
change of activity.
9
op. cit. Wexler, Alice. A Theory for living: walking with Reggio Emilia. Art education, Nov. 2004; 57,6; Academic Research
Library.
10
Who published the book “The Hundred Languages of Children”, 1996.
11
In fact, the classrooms are open and allow the coexistence of simultaneous activities within a familiar environment, open to
collaboration and participation, towards new discoveries and re-usage of materials to develop new working methods.
12
The main issue is related with the way that students learn in each situation, having deeper educational meaning when each student
searches and enriches his/her personal knowledge.
as well as visual and hearing stimuli, or touch and
smell for understanding and research the phenomena.
Norman (2004) studies the important role of the
music in emotional terms: the melody, the rythm and
the tone appeal for the movement of the brain
(perception, acction, cognition and emotion: visceral,
behavioural and reflective). Some aspects of the
music are common to people, while others vary
according to culture, although the affective states that
music generates are universal and then similar among
cultures.
The music is made from several activities:
composing, interpretating, listening, singing and
dancing. 13 The musical and lyrics structures can be
developed in order to surprise, give pleasure or even
shock.14 The rythm is built according to human
biology, considering the rythmic body patterns or the
natural frequences of corporal movements. Therefore
every culture naturally developed diferrent musical
scales with common bases. 15 The expectations
assume an essential role in the creation of affective
states, once the musical sequence can satisfy or
damage the expectations after the rythmic sequence
and used tones. The development of strong human
affective influences depend on the combination of
musical structures, rythm, tone and the continuing
sequence of tension and musical instability. Those
influences may occur subconsciously or consciously
in a deliberated or non-deliberated way. The rythm,
the melody and the metrics are fundamental in the
human emotions. The music has consequences in
psycological, sensual ou sexual terms and can act in a
subtil or subconscious driver of the emotional state.
As long as music can be a source of positive
affections, some electronic sounds can give origin to
negative affections.
Therefore, a sound, musical or other is a strong
vehicle for the human expression, enhancing pleasure,
13
emotional states and memory recallers.16 The music
can be pleasant, fun, emotional inspirational and help
delivering information, considering sound as an
important issue in design and feeling and using
emotions for the well being and general sustainability.
Gianfranco Zaccai (1995)17 refers that sensorial
stimulation is one of the essential questions to be used
during the development of the design process. So the
designer should become a deeper expert in these
matters. Most designers focus their attention at the
visual sense and some at the touch, however the
hearing and smell are also a source of stimuli and
sensorial human perception. The smell and the
hearing should be part of the design process,
considering the benefits of eliminating the noise or
introducting pleasant melodies in terms of products
and in terms of creative process. 18 All the
interrelations among the several sensorial perceptions
should be considered through a dynamic perspective,
enhancing a new dimension of the design project. In
order to understand and manipulate these new
elements, the designers should use non-traditional
tools, applying to creativity and innovation dynamics
to get unique, significant and distinctive projects.
The design learning and teaching are directly related
with the understyanding and the perspective of the
teacher and the school. Downton (2003) concludes
about the importance of the “studios” as a source of
research of design processes and design learning tool,
due to its socially interactive nature and its potential.
Oxman (1999) presents the need of an educational
model that implies the gathering of design
knowledge, using cognitive structures and design
strategies, able to be transmitted in special and
specific learning environments like the “studios”.
2.3 Emotional competence
Interpretating, singing or dancing are behavioural activities while composing and listening are visceral or reflective activities.
14
The music induces an important behavioural component, because the person is envolved when playing music, dancing or singing
it, as the same eperceptual extension as when a book is read or a movi eis watched.
15
The minor keys have an emotional impact different than the major keys, with an universal meaning connected to sadness or
melancholy.
16
The musical notes appropriated for space and time can conceal emotional states while the noise or unpleasant sounds are
contributors of emotional stress, anxiety and negativity.
17
18
in Art and Technology Aesthectics redefined, op. cit. in Buchanan, R. / Margolin, V. Discovering Design, pp. 3-13.
Other issue to be developed are the thermic qualities and exogenal characteristics of the materials used on the sensorial experiences
and product design.
The learning process influences the physical, social
and emotional development. The emotional maturity
consists in controlling one´s own emotions and being
able of recognize, accept and express it. 19 It is
essential to have an attitude change, from passive
viewer to participant, critical and demanding. The
new sources for acquiring knowledge have been
changing the role of the teacher has the knowledge
master. Considering the diversity of positive and
negative stimuli available, the student should express
his/her feelings and emotions according to his/ her
cultural environment and age. 20 The others can help
in ones self-knowledge, by reflecting our image and
highlighting cooperation and partnership as tools for
knowledge and creativity. Hence, any difficulty
should be seen as a lever to postpone barriers and
achieve personal development. The criticism can be
used to learn and changing attitudes is important for
knowledge opportunities.21 Each student should
search inside, in one´s own structure and soul in
olrder to find the path to success, gathering
competence and vocation.
Self-knowledge enhances a good relationship with
others, preventing social discomfort to become
emotional discomfort. 22 Sousa (1970) incentivates the
creative expression of the students through the usage
of simple materials without limits to their personal
creative desire.
3. THE SPIRIT OF THE PORTUGUESE CULTURE
3.1 Redescovering the paths of portuguese
distinctiveness
António Quadros (1967) emphazises the importance
of the language to the Portuguese culture, when
defining Language as “a way that truly achieves the
movement – regardless of will, intention, institucional or
19
human organization”. The language captures the
essence and uniqueness of Portuguese culture,
revealing what the nation is by itself. 23 In general,
language is simultaneously the most distinctive and
the most universal element of the cultural spirit,
because the social community or homeland depends
on learning, existing and sharing a common language
and a common philosophy or thinking. However, the
Language merit as the expression of a common
thinking was not accepted by some mathematicians
and sociologists. Teixeira de Pascoaes sustains that
the power of the character of a nation is directly
related with the impossibility of translation of some
words and the ability to develop a specific and special
verbal tense for thoughts and feelings. Language can
reveal the spiritual personality, the soul and the
character of a nation and its social and human destiny.
The Portuguese language has strong and deep poetic
and metaphysic vocabulary.
Jaime Cortesão published 24 about the influence of the
sea and the discoveries in the development of the
language and in some expressions that induce
movement, dynamics and opening. Quadros (1967)
indicates the greek, latin and arabic roots that made
the eccentricity of the Portuguese language as well as
the richness of symbolic and conceptual values and
the existence of a sui generis thought.
Vincenzo Spinelli refers the musicality that exists in
the Portuguese language, due to its vocal complexity
of 43 pure vowels and Hernâni Dias da Silva (1955)25
had studied the linguistic dynamics that arises from
“the need of achievement in the portuguese spirit”.
.2
The Portuguese ideal
“The portuguese people is capable of everything but they
can not be required because they are a great people of
postponed heroes” was a statement by Fernando Pessoa
Emotions follow stimuli of internal, near or far sources.
20
A good self-steem level is essencial for maturity and emotional stability. In a global society, self-concept and the relationship with
others enhance the development of the “self”.
21
Happiness and success are related but the foundations of success are competence, reasoning and action.
22
Parents and teachers have an important role in daily training, intellectually, socially or emotionally in order to have a secure and
aware generation. The teacher shall use the opportunities inside and outside the classrooms to solve personal crises and show moral
competence.
23
The protuguese language is the source of the true national culture.
24
In “O humanismo universalista dos portugeses”, Ed. Portugália Editora, Lisboa, 1965.
25
In “Expressão linguística da realidade e da potencialidade”, Ed. Faculdade de Filosofia, Braga, 1955.
that shows the particularity of the cultural identity
and the art of being portuguese.
António Quadros points out the question of the
vitality of the portuguese ideal, deeply present in the
psyche of the people, using the psyco-teleologic
interpretation of 10 key-words of the portuguese
ideal, namely: Sea, Journey, Boat, Discoveries, East,
Search, Love, Empire, Saudade and Concealed.
Goethe reinforces that understanding the deep
philosophical meaning of these key-words allow the
comprehension of the portuguese ideal. 26
3.3 Defects and Virtues
Teixeira de Pascoaes points out some of the defects
and virtues of the Portuguese people. One of the main
defects is the lack of persistence, as the opposite
extreme of the virtue of adventure genious, not
allowing the conclusion of the initiated activities.
The defect of Sadness is the opposite of the virtue
Saudade, as “the divine tendency of the Portuguese to God
on their decadence expression…” the sadness weakens
the character and the being and rises another defect –
the envy, which is a human reaction against death and
human value.
The vanity is a negative consequence of the past
greatness of the people, of their lost power.
Questioning their own value increases the intolerance
and the imitation spirit, reducing or cancelling the
initiative. Hence there is a stagnation because of fear
and the lack of the idea of future, as mentioned by
José Gil considering that “… we live in a present that is
perpetuated, not registering the future or the past, because
we are afraid”.27
This feeling is responsible for the fear of trying, due
to the difficulty in accepting criticism. If the defects
are known it will be possible to rediscover the feeling
of adventure and sail again through the uncertainty,
finding once more the inner force and unconscious
that allowed the deafeating of fears.
4. THE SOUL OF FADO AND THE POETRY OF
SAUDADE
.1
What is the FADO
The “Fado” is the portuguese traditional music by
excellence. The word Fado means destiny or fate too.
Rui Vieira Nery28 made a research about Fado
considering the history of the portuguese culture and
music. The vocality types, the poetic and musical
expressions are common to ancient mediterranean
traditions although different in the music of each
european, north african or eastern country.
In Portugal the first reference to Fado occured in the
decade of 1830.29 The historical evolution of the Fado
music is a mirror of the portuguese culture. Its origins
go back to Lundum and Modinha30 and later the
melancholic and langourous traces turn up31 .
Subsequently the composed Fados are produced by
musicians and bohemians writing the Fado lyrics and
music, initially some marginal groups and then within
the high society. Nowadays a new generation of Fado
soloist appeared, as Mariza32 , renewing the style and
the interest by this kind of music, speccially in young
generations, to whom fado is both a tradition and
national identity, preserving portuguese uniqueness in
a global society.
The Fado Codes
In terms of communication, the culture can be
structured through a group of codes. In Fado, several
cultural codes should be considered. The
paralinguistic codes include the vocal entoation of
Fado, concerning intensity, tone and duration. The
voice of Fado seems like a sobben or broken voice
according to Ramalho Ortigão, and is “unable to
classify and sui generis” as Tinop refers. The kinethic
codes of Fado are related to the body movements, the
ritual and conventional gestures of the soloist
(Fadista), like the eyes half closed, negligent posture
and head reclined as described by Tinop and Gallop.
26
Quadros reveals that according to the portuguese ideal, “life is the Sea where heroically and fearlessly one searches through; the homeland
is the Boat... the destiny is the journey between the visible and the invisible; the philosophy is discovery and search; the world is fraternity, above
race and above geography; love is the strengthening of the human being for the creation of the complete spiritual masterpiece; the fifth empire is the
future general empire of the spirit, ruling the world, the soul and the body, inspiring a peacefull society; the saudade is the reintegration in God and
the concealed is the last truth, supremelly misterious and always present. “ In Quadros, op. cit. p. 83.
27
In “Portugal, Hoje – o medo de existir”, José Gil
28
In “Para uma História do Fado”, colecction “O Fado do Público”.
29
The portuguese elements that represent Fado are related to the Portuguese culture, in terms of the tonal structure of the melody,
using the seven syllable verses and simetric phrases with regular metrics, as it was tipical of the portuguese song in the end of the
XVIII century.
30
Brasilian dances sung in the beginning of the XIX century.
31
In the middle class Fado and in some theatre plays until the fado of the XX century.
32
Who has won the World Music Award Best Singer 2003, renewing the interest for this kind of Portuguese music.
The objects perception and the inner environment of a
Fado house are part of the visual and iconic codes of
Fado. The architectural codes include the
respresentation and meaning of the double doors of
some wine bars, reinforcing the separation between
the public and external space and the inner private
space. The dressing codes can be checked on the
Fadista cloths, like the black female cover or the male
hat, and the musical codes include the sound of the
portuguese guitar. There are also poetic and linguistic
codes that enable the communication of Fado in a
pleasant and culturally acessible way.
4.2 What is Saudade
The portuguese cultural personality has as essential
characteristic the Saudade. 33 The Saudade has been a
reason for poetic inspiration and phylosophical
reflection, gathering in only one word the affective
complexity that exists in the portuguese nation, not
possible to translate as affective root.
The word “saudade” can be compared with the
english term spleen (like an absent present), with the
french nostalgie and regret (that refers to the past) or
with desiderium (related to the future) in latin. In
Germany, the expression “Sehnsucht” is similar to the
meaning of Saudade, as Carolina Michaelis said.
The first references to saudade were made by the king
D. Duarte, at the Leal Conselheiro, comparing
“soidade” with “ grieve, unpleasant, nausea and
annoyance”, while Duarte Nunes de Leão defined
saudade as “ the memory and desire of something or
someone”. At the portuguese literature, the saudade is
always present, including the recollection of
something that is not present and that happened
before or something that exists but is far away. There
is the simultaneous wish of recovering what was lost
and the anxiety for something that is felt and enjoyed
in the imagination, as Saudade towards the future.
The definition of Saudade is still not closed 34,
including topics like the soul passion, the sadness of
separation, the recollection, the romantic pleasure of
loneliness, the sense of the heart, the pure feeling of
totallity, the anxiety of existing, the puré ontological
feeling, the search of a shelter, the greed of a lost
good and the movement between here and there.
Teixeira de Pascoaes points out that the cheerful and
sensual part of Saudade is the Desire, as long as the
painful and spiritual part of Saudade is registered in
the recollection, because it includes the absence of
something or someone that has a spiritual presence in
the one who is feeling saudade. 35 The pain of saudade
is both individual and universal, because existing
means a continuous tension between being and
existing. The saudade has a metaphysic and
deontological dimension higher than the individual
feeling. 36 The nature is sacred and the saudade of the
world is the saudade of God, according to Pascoaes.
Considering the Portuguese genious, Pascoaes
recognizes the “saudade” has holder of a mysterious
nature, as a path to knowledge, once the peotic
knowledge is aesthectic, ontological and metaphysics.
In philosophical terms, the saudade is like the most
perfect human feeling, a source of spirituality, an idea
of divine strength, potential driver of the Portuguese
renewal. António Sérgio totally disagrees with this
position and rejects the definition of saudade
concerning will and representation, as source of
divinity and spirituality. Sérgio considers that the
saudade is a contradiction of the thought (movement,
action and forward) against the past, the letargy and
the absence of activity. This author uses examples to
show that the word is possible to translate and does
not agree with the question that saudade is a
distinctive Portuguese feeling. Yet his main criticism
is about saudade as the driver of Portuguese
renewal 37, because the moral development of one
people depends upon their economic progress.
Moreira de Sá (2004) recognizes Sérgio´s
insensibility towards the importance of saudade in the
Portuguese cultural imaginary.
5.FROM NOTHING TO CREATION
5.1 Objectives and method
While creating and developing the method of this new
emotional approach to design, we considered the
prossecution of the following objectives:
- to increase the emotional dynamics in the class;
- to promote an environment of constant change,
surprise and some mistery;
- to value intuition, creative freedom and imagination;
- to guide the class, teaching the students with an
approach of “Learning by Feeling, Learning by
experience”;
- to introduce the cultural heritage value in a natural
way, without pressure, enabling curiosity for the
discovery of the Portuguese language values, as
literature, poetry, art and music;
- to integrate new tools/ research drivers within the
design project theme, focusing on sharing,
cooperation and work exchange;
- to use different senses to promote freedom of
thought, developing new virtues, contents and
imaginary to the formal and aesthectic comprehension
of the objects.
33
The definition of the portuguese national character was studied and analised by philosophers like Cunha Seixas, Álvaro Ribeiro,
Sampaio Bruno, António Quadros, Pinharanda Gomes and researchers as Jorge Dias, Manuel Antunes, Orlando Ribeiro, Eduardo
Lourenço, António José Saraiva, Cunha Leão, Joel Serrão, Agostinho da Silva or Jaime Cortesão,
34
Urbano Tavares Rodrigues identifies the word saudade as “noia”, a feeling between nausea and annoyance.
35
This researcher thought about the existential experience of saudade, about the painful condition where there is the consciousness of
imperfection, deprivation and limitation.
36 “the whole universe is the comic expression of sauadde as infinite recollection of hope”.
37
In the text “Regeneration and tradition, moral and economy”
When promoting learning experiences with others,
sharing ideas and solving problems, the students´
interpretative capacity is reinforced, establishing the
idea of coherence and unity of the project.
In each case it is necessary to interpretate the relation
between the emotion, the free representation and the
project frame.
The main goal of this project method and process is
to add value to the creative process in the product
conception. We want to reinforce the materials
contribution as well as experimentation and the
bidimensional and three dimensional skills and
challenge the students normative paradigms on the
way of articulating senses to a design response rooted
in the experience. The main contribution is to
promote creativity and the artistic component of the
design project.
About the method, following the Reggio Emilia
experiences, we experimented and sustain the
integration of the senses and feelings on the design
project and the search of a wider emotional dynamics
in teaching and class organization, including the
stimulation of creativity and apprehension of the
cultural richness as a research and creative source on
the design project.
5.2 Class Description
5.2.1 From Nothing to Creation
According to Carvalho Rodrigues (2004), “ the vast
majority of the Universe is nothing… It is the emptiness.
From nothing or in nothing everything was created.
Nothing has a structure, a structure that is created from
nothing, from emptiness. Like everything that surrounds us
all the creativity is in the structure of our nothingness… we
expand our nothingness just like the vacuum structure that
originated the universe in its creativity moment: the bigbang. Sometimes we are attracted to our emptiness… we
should look and see how is our structure, our nothingness,
our creativity foundation…” From nothing to creation,
we developed this experience, consisting in looking
without seeing, feeling the emotions and forget the
rational feelings to feel through the Fado musicality38
and create from the individual emptiness and using
human creativity, when design is a result of the
structure of nothing and the soul.
The challenge is to start from nothing, to clean the
soul, to abstract from the world around us, to look
inside ourselves, to know our fears and anxieties, not
to look at the things with prejudiced ideas, to refuse
steryotypes. Then we should find the path for the
emotions, our ability to feel, the most naked
expression of our being.
.2
The forms of sound
The students were invited to hear fado with blinded
eyes, letting themselves experiment the emotional
spaciousness of the music and the emotional reaction
evoked by the lyrics. In front of a wall covered with
scenographic paper, the students represented the
forms that the music and the lyrics of the Fado have
suggested them, according to what they felt when
they were listening to the music. The objective was to
learn the form and the language inherent to the sound
38
In this experience we used instrumental music.
of Fado and to the poetry of Saudade and to
understand the codes in an intuitive way, with the
representation of forms on the paper.
.3
Experimental Design and representation of
emotions
a)
Emotions and sensorial choose of materials
The objective was to keep exploring the senses,
perfecting the others by not using one (eg. Vision). So
the students were invited to relate emotions and
feelings with fado music and poetry. With blinded
eyes, just by touching, they chose the materials that
had been put on the table, relating them with the
sensations they induced when touched, following the
emotions driven from the music, originating a choice
of materials that induced sadness, hapiness, softness,
agressiveness, calm, movement, rebellion, saudade,
love and jealousy.
b) Representing emotions using colours
Introducing the sense of smell, the students were
lsitening to Fado with blinded eyes and were asked to
relate the smells existing on the table with the
emotions caused by Fado, drawing forms on a first
stage. Later without blinded eyes they were suggested
to add colours, textures and three dimensional values
to those forms. The essences used in the experience
were candles or scents smelling like the sea, forest
fruits, orange, lime, oak tree, cedar tree, land and
others, enabling associations between emotions
caused by fado and respective forms representated on
paper.
c) Cooperation and Exchange
Malaguzzi (1996) points out that most of the curricula
consider that the students are not able to share out nor
understand the others perspective because their
attention is limited and they are egocentric. These
prejudice ideas were changed by the Reggio Emília
Group, who suggested a path to knowledge leaving
the certainty and researching the possibilities of the
innovative, walking in the knowledge directions.
So, to experiment design through Fado and saudade,
different lay outs of the classroom were used, which
enabled and appealed to group working, being easy to
register the Works progression.
Subsequently, when the students were having some
difficulties to keep their work flow, by idea blocking
or exhaustion of new solutions to their Project, we
promoted work exhange, following Reggio Emília
experience, considering that each student has worked
and developed his/her partner´s Project, which
enabled the existence of new solutions for each
Project, turning out as an improvement in the general
quality of the Works and facilitating the continuity of
the Project for each student individually.
5.4 Comparative analysis of the projects
The adhesion levels to the workshop format were
equally high at IADE and RMIT. In both institutes the
participation in the experiences and the students
´motivation were strong in terms of the studio
sensorial involvement.
Concerning the method, we conclude in both studios
that introducing sound, poetry and music worked as
creativity inductor elements. We could abstract the
students from normal parameters and face the cultural
richness as an heritage to be revisited, independently
of the national differences.
The emotional component and the inductor elements
of emotional states worked in both workshops,
despite the individual cultural, allowing to use it on
the design Project.
The main evidence that resulted from the final
projects revealed:
The poetic language of the final outputs of most
students in both studios, beacuse many of the forms
intuitively obtained in the experiences were later used
as formal languages.
The students sellected and used a group of materials
that are not tradittionally chosen in the design Project
nowadays. Instead of using plastic molding, ceramics
or glass, they choose to use cork, concrete, metallic
mesh and natural elements as stone, sand and
bamboo. The outputs show objects with a great
cromatic extent, richness in terms of contents and
with decorative elements and symbols which reveal a
certain emotional dynamics.
The interest by the emotional component of the
research and the discovery of portuguese culture was
deeper in the australian workshop, where we assisted
to a bigger involvment and deepness about fado and
saudade, which enabled a richer and more diverse use
of these elements as reference on the Project. So we
suspect that in the future thios method will enable to
achieve better results if distinctive cultures are
explored. 39
FINAL CONCLUSION
Nowadays, the world geopolitics reality has suffered
different mutations. The language and the Saudade
appear among the union factors with higher
predominance as both constitute identical forms of
assuming the being. On this research we try to
develop a sensorial approach, evoking fado music and
Saudade poetry.
We played with the senses, trying to look without
seeing, to feel with the smell, to touch with the vision
and explore all the sensorial capacities that are not
used normally. The richness in revisiting the cultural
heritage allowed us to feel the sailors fear again, the
women anxiety or the poets souls, to transform the
fears into courage, bravery and nobility, introducing
new “fados” to the design science. It is the beginning
of the feeling that this is our own root.
The fact that this workshop was first accomplished in
Melbourne and then repeated in Lisbon enabled us to
conclude that the experimental and cultural
components introduced during the classes were able
to involve and motivate the students to a new form of
sensing the design project, with more freedom to be
creative and to feel the design.
39
The method used on this workshop allows the
development bof other themes, besides the
Portuguese culture, with the same objectives of
creativity, promotion and experimentation freedom on
the design project, in order to obtain similar results
dealing with reasoning abilities, motivation and
students performance from these emotional design
optic. In the end, when we have bound all the designs
together, all the dances and analised all the results of
the creativity from the individual structures of
emptiness, “perhaps there is the signature of mankind.
Much of their fado. And also many of the faces of the
structure that creates, that generates and leads to saudade.
Perhaps, there can be seen a small detail of a pillarof God´s
future structure 40”.
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40 In F.C.Carvalho Rodrigues, “Convoquem a Alma”, 2004.
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Appendix:
Picture 4 – Soul Box exercise
Picture 1 – Classroom enviroment
Picture 5 – Free drawing with Fado music
Picture 2 – Classroom Smell experience
Picture 6 – Free drawing with Fado music
Picture 3 – Classroom enviroment Colour experience
Picture 8 – Free drawing on wallpaper
Picture 3 – Free drawing on wallpaper
Picture 9 - RMIT project “Saudade energizer Game”
Picture 10 – RMIT Project “listening to fado”
Picture 7 – Introducing colours and smells
Picture11 – IADE project – “ Saudade lightning”
Cork and metal
Picture 12– IADE project “Emotional light for Fado”