The "Popular Architecture in Portugal". A Critical Look.

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Our Project: the 'Popular Architecture in Portugal' A Critical Look. Intercalar Results of a Research Project

Publication . MAIA, Maria Helena; CARDOSO, Alexandra; LEAL, Joana Cunha

The research project we are developing is centered on the critical study of Popular Architecture in Portugal volume, published in 1961 by the Architects’ Union. This subject was chosen not only for the importance of the survey on which it is based for the history of Portuguese architectural culture, but also because we consider that the critical discussion prompted by the survey maintains its relevance unaltered, now that the debates on vernacular and regionalism have re-entered the agenda of professional debates. Even so, Popular Architecture in Portugal is not being study in isolation, in and for itself. Instead, we chose to study it within a pondered framework, dialoguing with theoretical elements underlying the expressiveness of some modern architectural erudite languages. Within this framework, Pedro Vieira de Almeida (2010) brought in two complementary key analytical variants of this project. He considered them as “parameters in sordina”: Firstly, the notion of the generic importance for architectural expression of greater or lesser degree of thickness of the walls, shaping what might be called a poetics of thin walls on the one hand, and a poetics of thick walls on the other. Secondly, the notion of transition-space’s architectural expressiveness key significance. This paper aims to present the current state of our research project, bringing its core working lines and results into discussion.

2012-05Conference object

Open access

Arquitectura e Poder. Para uma historiografia do Movimento Moderno em Portugal

Publication . CARDOSO, Alexandra; MAIA, Maria Helena

Partindo do Inquérito à Arquitectura Regional Portuguesa, realizado entre 1955 e 1960 pelo Sindicato dos Arquitectos Portugueses com apoio oficial do governo, este trabalho pretende identificar os principais pontos de vista da historiografia do Movimento Moderno em Portugal, no que diz respeito às motivações de cada uma das partes envolvidas no processo do Inquérito (Sindicato dos Arquitetos e Estado) e às condições do exercício da profissão na sua relação com o poder político, tema a que o debate historiográfico sobre a existência de uma arquitetura do ou no Estado Novo veio far forma.

2012-09Conference object

Open access

SURVEYS ON VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE. THEIR SIGNIFICANCE IN 20TH CENTURY ARCHITECTURAL CULTURE. Conference Proceedings

Publication . AAVV

A survey on vernacular architecture, entitled Inquérito à Arquitectura Regional Portuguesa [Survey on Regional Architecture in Portugal] was promoted by the Architects’ Union between 1955 and 1960. It benefited from official government support and was conducted by some of the main modern architects. It come out as a two volume book – Popular Architecture in Portugal– published in 1961 and reprinted in 1979, 1988 and 2004. Taken from the outset as being able to provide “the basis for an honest, active and healthy regionalism” (Keil do Amaral, 1947), the Survey, and the book it prompted, had great influence on Portuguese architectural culture. As it was accomplished in an historical turning point, when some of the principles of Modern Movement were being critically reviewed both nationally and internationally, the Survey’s outcomes encouraged modern architects to recover national history and tradition. Moreover, the Portuguese Survey on vernacular architecture constitutes a remarkable register of the ancient rural country at the exact moment it was about to disappear. This fact would also guarantee its importance to other fields of study, such as anthropology, history, and photography. In association with an ongoing research project Popular Architecture in Portugal. A critical look, this conference aims to discuss the background, conditions, methodologies, published results, effects and the significance of such kind of surveys in the 20th century architecture and architectural thought, and be able to understand the Portuguese case in the international cultural context.

2012-05Conference object

Open access

O Inquérito à Arquitectura Regional: contributo para uma historiografia crítica do Movimento Moderno em Portugal

Publication . MAIA, Maria Helena; CARDOSO, Alexandra

2014Conference object

Open access

A ‘ARQUITECTURA POPULAR EM PORTUGAL’. UMA LEITURA CRÍTICA. RELATÓRIO FINAL

Publication . MAIA, Maria Helena; CARDOSO, Alexandra; LEAL, Joana Cunha

Relatório final do projeto FCT A Arquitetura Popular em Portugal. Uma Leitura Crítica. 1 de Abril de 2010 – 30 de Junho de 2013

2013Report