Nuno Cera
Beja, Portugal, 1972
Symphony of the Unknown, 2012-2013
DVCPRO HD; PAL (1080 p). Colour, sound. 16’9’’
Dimensions variable
MAL 12’30”; ABX 16’50”; BAR 20’40”
Gift of the artist 2014

Nuno Cera uses photographic series and film to conduct an analytical research on Modernist architecture and urban settings: he explores the structure of significant buildings in order to decipher what they can tell about the time when they were built, and of the utopias that informed their conception.

Sinfonia do Desconhecido (Symphony of the Unknown) brings together three examples of large building complexes, each of which is in ways an epitome of Modernist architecture: the Barbican Centre in London, Les Espaces d’Abraxas in Paris, and Quinta da Malagueira in Evora, Portugal. All combine living places with various types of public spaces dedicated to social interaction and gatherings; they were conceived to function as self-sufficient closed systems, and are somehow secluded from the rest of the surrounding city. Cera’s camera roams around each complex, focusing on details that expose the gradual evolution of the architecture, its decay as much as its failure to provide ideal living conditions for its inhabitants. Each film is presented with the voiceover of an architectural critic, providing further insight into the structure it refers to.