What? When? Why not? Portuguese Architecture

Casa da Arquitectura - Portuguese Centre for Architecture welcomes the exhibition What? When? Why not? Portuguese Architecture displayed at the Casa's Gallery between October 29 and April 24, 2022. Curated and designed by Jorge Figueira and Bruno Gil, it is an output of the research project "(EU)ROPA – Rise of Portuguese Architecture", funded by FCT and based at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra.

The project's aim, of which the exhibition is a public revelation, is to identify, problematise and disseminate the concept of “Portuguese architecture” in the national and international contexts, confronting its history, ideas and methods, with a changing world. Although of recurrent use in the architectural debate, and not only, the expression "Portuguese architecture" had several meanings over time and deserved to be seen from various perspectives and in relation to contemporary debates. The aim of the project/exhibition is also to open the discussion to a broad audience, present the theme in various disciplinary and interdisciplinary dimensions, and convene multiple sensitivities.

As a cultural phenomenon, “Portuguese architecture” has gained increasing national and international expression in the last 30 years, also a result of the work of generations of architects and a history with reflections in the colonial past. Therefore, it is deeply involved in the geographical, cultural, and historical condition of the country. That is why it's “Portuguese.”

What? When? Why not? Portuguese Architecture exposes the ongoing research, referring to the eleven “What?” that structure it: Portuguese, History, Historiography, Fascism, Colonialism, Democracy, Social, Women, Education, Research, Pop. A hexagonal “booth” dedicated to each of these themes allows us to analyse the researchers' proposals in images, objects, and text. The result is a kaleidoscopic view of Portuguese architecture, admittedly complex and contradictory, beyond the simplifications that often portray it, from near or afar.

In this format and with this wide latitude, What? When? Why not? Portuguese Architecture proposes to deepen knowledge and conquer a new critical dimension for the theme, a perspective open to new understandings and disruptions at the national and international levels.

When
29 October 2021 to 24 April 2022
Where
Casa da Arquitectura
Avenida Menéres, 456
4450-189 Matosinhos
Organizer
Casa da Arquitectura
Links
casadaarquitectura.pt
e-flux architecture

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