Ocupar, construir, habitar : um projeto contra-cartográfico sobre o Bairro 6 de Maio

The map is a visual device that allows sharing information about a territory and therefore about its communities. Its graphic ability to sythetise optimized the dissemination of geographic and demographic information. However, it is also this ability that establishes some of its limitations as a communicational device. The development of the Internet transported the map to the online space. Today, the constant and growing relationship between individuals and online content has sparked reflections on the impacts of the Internet on users' daily lives. Following the idea that there is a relationship between maps and everyday life, this study explores the possible representational limitations of the map as a graphic and communication device. Along with that, it considers what possible implications of the observer's perspective towards both the map and the Internet space may arise, and how these fields intersect in the concept of the digital map. Finally, we intend to explore in an analytical, critical and practical way how design responds to this reality. As a result, three components shape this study: the first develops a theoretical discussion around the map and its transition to the digital medium, followed by how the practices of design and of counter-cartography intersect in response to the impact of dominant cartography; the second develops a study of practical cases that supports the development methodology carried out on the project Ocupar, Construir, Habitar; and the third component consists of a report for this same project. The Ocupar, Construir, Habitar project thus follows a counter-cartographic approach in response to instances of negligence in the mapping of territories by State agents and replicated in digital mapping services such as Google Maps. The focus is the Bairro 6 de Maio, an ilegal settlement that existed in Amadora, Portugal, between 1973 and 2021. Presented as a printed publication and an online platform, this project explores an alternative practice of collaborative mapping that uses the testimony of people from the community of the settlement. Thus, this work is constituted as a denunciation of injustices and social inequalities, being as well configured as a cartographic record that historically documents the relationship between this community and its territor