Atlantic: the space between two coasts

Abstract

This thesis creates a portal that connects two coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, expressed through the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Luanda. The Atlantic Ocean is both the bridge and the barrier that marries both sites, once geologically connected. The portal emerges as two paths that move from mountain to sea in a ritual that proposes gazing into the horizon and seeing the missing piece on the other side. Or rather, feeling it through longing and separation. Angola and Brazil, both former Portuguese colonies, are tied by more than a common language and colonial heritage. As two of the largest slavery ports in the 19th century, about three million people were shipped from Luanda to Rio de Janeiro. This transatlantic connection is Diasporic and immeasurable, present in their cultural weaving and their capacity of being recognized as a synecdoche for the space between two coasts.