Graphic and audiovisual inventory of dams in Portugal
 

Chilean architect Eduardo Corales spent three years making a graphic and audiovisual inventory of dams in Portugal. Between 2019 and 2022 he visited and documented, in photographs and video, 30 paradigmatic cases of the national hydroelectric infrastructure system. This research was carried out with the aim of creating the first graphic and audiovisual record of Portugal's hydroelectric history, with the support of the EDP Foundation and DG Artes, together with the CEACT research centre at the Autonomous University of Lisbon.

A significant part of this work is now on show in the Powerpoint exhibition, on display in the MAAT Central building between 1 November 2023 and 5 February 2024. On display are photographs, three-dimensional models of volumetric elements and a video of 20 of the dams studied by Eduardo Corales: Agueira, Alqueva, Alto Lindoso, Alto Rabagão, Baixo Sabor, Bemposta, Cabril, Castelo de Bode, Foz Tua, Fronhas, Lagoa Comprida, Miranda, Picote, Pracana, Salamonde, Santa Luzia, Torrão, Varosa, Venda Nova and Vilarinho das Furnas. 

It is a chronicle of the elements that gave rise to an electrical landscape and which, from its various chapters, can contribute to understanding the complexities, conflicts and future of these infrastructures, as well as the development of the territory and its changes. In other words, a compilation of chapters in the history of national electrification, the territory in which they are located and EDP's own journey.

The EDP Foundation's support for this research by Eduardo Corales is part of its mission to identify, classify and valorise the country's electrical heritage, namely through historical research with a view to producing a bibliography that contributes to deepening knowledge about the history of the energy sector in Portugal.