The Sona drawings, plural of Lusona, were part of the tradition of the Tchokwe People. It is known in eastern Angola and close to the borders of Zambia and Congo. The drawings were made in the sand only by men, as a way to tell a story or show the reality of them (with representations of daily, nature, animals and people). It was part of the boys' rite of passage to adulthood to learn to draw Sona and tell stories.
Mathematical concepts such as Combinatorial Analysis, Minimum Common Multiple and Maximum Common Divisor were used instinctively, since the Tchokwe people had no knowledge of the formulas and math of the graphs. First, the soil was cleaned and flattened with the hand, and with the fingertips it was drawn an grid of points with carefully proportional spaces. Subsequently, the narrator traced lines - straight and curves with a 45 degree inclination - around the points without taking his fingers from the sand until finishing the drawing.
The Sona drawings, plural of Lusona, were part of the tradition of the Tchokwe People. It is known in eastern Angola and close to the borders of Zambia and Congo. The drawings were made in the sand only by men, as a way to tell a story or show the reality of them (with representations of daily, nature, animals and people). It was part of the boys' rite of passage to adulthood to learn to draw Sona and tell stories.
Mathematical concepts such as Combinatorial Analysis, Minimum Common Multiple and Maximum Common Divisor were used instinctively, since the Tchokwe people had no knowledge of the formulas and math of the graphs. First, the soil was cleaned and flattened with the hand, and with the fingertips it was drawn an grid of points with carefully proportional spaces. Subsequently, the narrator traced lines - straight and curves with a 45 degree inclination - around the points without taking his fingers from the sand until finishing the drawing.
The Sona drawings, plural of Lusona, were part of the tradition of the Tchokwe People. It is known in eastern Angola and close to the borders of Zambia and Congo. The drawings were made in the sand only by men, as a way to tell a story or show the reality of them (with representations of daily, nature, animals and people). It was part of the boys' rite of passage to adulthood to learn to draw Sona and tell stories.
Mathematical concepts such as Combinatorial Analysis, Minimum Common Multiple and Maximum Common Divisor were used instinctively, since the Tchokwe people had no knowledge of the formulas and math of the graphs. First, the soil was cleaned and flattened with the hand, and with the fingertips it was drawn an grid of points with carefully proportional spaces. Subsequently, the narrator traced lines - straight and curves with a 45 degree inclination - around the points without taking his fingers from the sand until finishing the drawing.
OUR TEAM
We are a team of architects and researchers from diverse areas who think and produce solutions that design for the new urban needs with the global look and a local and cultural sensitivity.
The cultural being and its ecological context, understanding progress as social integration, innovation and a pedagogy and practice that are made empathy for the richness in diversity in search of beauty of the dialogue of cultures.
We want to create a laboratory of experiences of new urban ratios, new structures, materials and human comfort.
Maria João Teles Grilo
Founder and Director of METAPOLIS – Urban Planning, Architecture and Consulting
(+351) 964 816 273
Born in Lubango, Angola.
Education:
Degree in Architecture, University of Lisbon, 1984
PhD candidate, University of Lisbon (2014-2016). Thesis: The lexicon of public space of the informal city of Luanda
Working areas:
Professor at Universidade Lusófona, Lisbon (1994 – 2000)
Professor at Universidade Agostinho Neto, Luanda (2000 – 2011)
Member of the Angolan Order of Architects (OAA), Portuguese Order of Architects (OAP), International Union of Architects (UIA), African Architects Union (AAU), International Council of Portuguese Speaking Architects (CIALP)
Focus areas:
Modern architecture movement in Angola
Informal cities in developing countries
Life and work of the Angolan modernist architect Vasco Vieira da Costa
Diana Ferraz
Architect
(+351) 931 729 962
Brazilian, bachelor in Architecture and Urbanism. Moved from Rio de Janeiro to Lisbon in 2016 and since then concluded an specialization in Urbanism (ULHT) and postgraduate studies in Construction and Sustainable Rehabilitation (FCT/NOVA). In Brazil, she worked in João Fortes Engineering, also on TV Globo, and in Andreia Vidigal Architecture. Passionate about the creative architectural process and the singularities of urban space, she joined Metapolis in 2018 to collaborate with multidisciplinary challenges.
Carlos Afonso
Architect
Natural from Lisbon. Master degree in Architecture at Faculdade de Belas Artes (ESBAL) Department of Architecture University of Lisbon, concluded in 1983. Works at the Infrastructures of the Portuguese Air Force (1984/1989). University teacher of Urban Furniture Design in ESAD (1991/1989). Teacher of CECOA on the subjects of the modernization of the establishment, products display techniques, decoration of a selling point and window dressing. Author of two books “Decoration of Commercial Establishment (1993) and “The art of showing and decoration a selling point”. Co-founder of a Studio Atelier Difusor de Arquitectura Lda in 1990. Start a regular cooperation with the company Tecproeng Lda with office in Luanda, Angola (2000/2012). It has projects in Portugal, Cab Vert, Sao Tome and Principe, Angola e Mozambique. In 2018 begins a new collaboration and a new professional experience with Metapolis.