Reinterpretation of tradition values, in Minho territory: Handcraft – a reading key

Abstract

To propose new experiences through design - as a communication interface between past and future - is to propose new products that are not only seen as experiences’ mediators, but are especially capable of promoting quality of life, fostering more intense experiences of places, acting as emotional relationships with the space through the indexing of the body, and anxious to resolve concerns of a symbolic nature. Minhoto’s craftsmanship positions itself as key for the interpretation of this vision; the material heritage that carries through its stories the immateriality, the relationship of civilization with the material world that naturally translates a collective value represented in memory and tradition. The closeness of these two variables - crafts and design - reflects a challenge to design’s disciplinary skills, a role recognized as crucial in the alter-globalization - “a globalization based on people” (Gebre, in Santos, 2003) - through its ability, demonstrated over time, to link citizens with the places we deem vital to the local cultural identities. Design as a discipline with an inclination for transdisciplinarity and for managing complexity, through its many possible languages, incorporating metaphors as representations for the experience, has the ambition of giving visibility to the values of the territory, through knowledge, which is synthesis of representations (Deleuze, 1994), reverting or adding to its value, that is, making it present by reinterpreting the craftsmanship.

Key words: craftsmanship, design, experience, territory.