OUR PROJECT: TH E “POPULAR ARCH I TECTURE I N PORTUGAL”. A
CRI TI CAL LOOK. I N TERCALAR RESU LTS OF A RESEARCH PROJECT.
M a r ia H e le n a M a ia
*,Ale x a n dr a Ca r doso
*a n d Joa n a Cu n h a Le a l
* ** Cent r o de Est udos Arn aldo Araúj o / ESAP, Port o * * I nst it ut o de Hist ória da Art e / FCSH- UNL, Lisboa Port ugal
Abst r a ct
The r esearch pr oj ect w e are dev eloping is cent er ed on t he crit ical st udy of Popular Archit ect ure in Port ugal volum e, published in 1 961 by t he Archit ect s’ Union. This subj ect w as chosen not only for t he im port ance of t he survey on w hich it is based for t he hist ory of Port uguese ar chit ect ural cult ure, but also because w e con sider t hat t he crit ical discussion pr om pt ed by t he sur vey m aint ains it s r elevance unalt er ed, now t hat t he debat es on v ernacular and r egionalism have r e- ent er ed t he agenda of pr ofessional debat es.
Ev en so, Popular Archit ect ur e in Port ugal is not being st udy in isolat ion, in and for it self. I nst ead, w e chose t o st udy it w it hin a pondered fram ew ork, dialoguing w it h t heor et ical elem ent s underlying t he expressiv eness of som e m odern archit ect ural erudit e languages.
Wit hin t his fram ew ork, Pedr o Vieira de Alm eida ( 2010) brought in t w o com plem ent ar y key analyt ical variant s of t his pr oj ect . He consider ed t hem as “ param et er s in sordina” : First ly, t he not ion of t h e generic im port ance for ar chit ect ur al expression of great er or lesser degr ee of t h ick n e ss of t he w alls, shaping w hat m ight be called a poet ics of t hin w alls on t he on e hand, and a poet ics of t hick w alls on t he ot her.
Secondly, t he not ion of t r a n sit ion - sp a ce ’s archit ect ural expressiv eness key significance.
This paper aim s t o pr esent t he curr ent st at e of our research pr oj ect , bringing it s core w orking lines and r esult s int o discussion.
Ke y w or ds: Survey, Vernacular Ar chit ect ure, Modern Archit ect ure, Port uguese
The Popular Archit ect ure in Port ugal. A Crit ical Look, w hich w e are now
present ing, w as set as a research proj ect in lat e 2008 t o be dev eloped bet w een April 2010 and March 2013, under t he coordinat ion of Pedro Vieir a de Alm eida.
The proposal and assum pt ions on w hich t his proj ect relied, w er e being equat ed by Pedro for som e t im e. As t he proj ect t ook form t hey achieved a w ider cr it ical dim ension, for concerns w ere no longer indiv idual, but shared w it hin a t eam w ork.
Tw o dist inct yet com plem ent ary focus w ere encom passed by t his proj ect ( 1) t he Survey t aken as obj ect of st udy and ( 2) t he Survey used as a pret ext for t heoret ical reflect ion.
The lat t er holds all t heoret ical reflex ion on archit ect ural expressiveness w hich t akes as key analy t ical var iant s of t his proj ect w hat PVA considers t he ‘param et ers in sordina’:
First ly , t he not ion of t he generic im port ance of great er or lesser degree of t he t h ick n e ss vect or, in t he field of archit ect ural expressiveness, and w hat it s
degree of incidence on vernacular archit ect ure and erudit e archit ect ure, shaping w hat m ight be called a poet ics of t hin w alls on t he one hand, and a poet ics of t hick w alls on t he ot her.
Secondly, t he real expressive m eaning of t he not ion spa ce - t r a n sit ion in st ruct uring t he idea of “ habit at ion” , underst anding space- t ransit ion, an in-bet w een space defined as being sim ult aneously int er ior and ext erior.
This reflect ion brought by Pedro t o t he proj ect goes far beyond t he aspect s direct ly linked t o t he I nquérit o à Arquit ect ura Regional Port uguesa [ Survey on Port uguese Regional Archit ect ure] . I ndeed, it is deeply root ed in broader t heoret ical and cr it ical concerns.
-m odernis-m , post - -m odernit y , on t he one hand, and ident it y, vernacular , her it age and globalizat ion, on t he ot her) . Pedro w as also recovering his early st udies on space in archit ect ure.
The richness of t his w ork and t he need t o respect aut horship, led us t o choose t o lim it t his first paper t o a present at ion of int ercalary result s of t he proj ect , leav ing t he influent ial cont r ibut e of Pedro t o a second paper dedicat ed t o his t hought s on t he Survey1. I t is im port ant t o not e t hat , despit e not being present , Pedro Vieira de Alm eida is also aut hor of t he w ork now being present ed.
Th e Su r ve y a s obj e ct of st u dy
The st udy of t he Survey covered several aspect s, including a new reading and ident ificat ion of problem s associat ed w it h it ; a cr it ical review of t he hist or iography on t he subj ect ( Cardoso, Maia 2010) and an at t em pt t o underst and it s significance in cont em porary archit ect ural cult ure, bot h nat ionally and int ernat ionally, w hich is t he genesis of t his Conference.
One should begin by not icing t hat alt hough t he publicat ion of t he Survey under t he t it le Arquit ect ura Popular em Port ugal [ Popular Archit ect ure in Port ugal] current ly achieved it s 4t h edit ion, and despit e t he fact t hat it is being w idely m ent ioned by all sort s of t ext s devot ed t o Port uguese archit ect ure, inform at ion on it w as relat ively scarce.
Available, and com m only referenced infor m at ion is oft en concerned w it h t hree m aj or issues: 1) ident ificat ion of t he genealogy of t he Survey in it s art iculat ion w it h t he problem of Port uguese House ( França 1970) ; 2) it s relat ion t o t he 1st Nat ional Congress of Archit ect ure prom ot ed in 1948; and 3) it s relat ion t o t he ‘Archit ect ure’ j ournal ( Port as 1978) . We m ight add t o t hose m at t ers t he at t em pt t o assess it s influence, especially in w hat concerns t he so- called t hird w ay follow ed by t he Port uguese m odern archit ect ure ( Port as 1978) , a subj ect t hat is
at t ract ing m ost refer ences, perhaps due t o t he int ernat ional pr oj ect ion t hat t his archit ect ure has reached t oday.
The liaison w it h t he polit ical syst em is part of t hose aspect s. The am biguous relat ionship est ablished bet w een archit ect s and t he dict at orship of Salazar, w as int erpret ed as an act of resist ance ( Pereira 2000) support ed by subt le ingenious m isunderst andings ( Port as 1978) . This reading needs, as far as w e are concerned, t o be considered in a w ider cont ext : t hat of general relat ions bet w een archit ect ure, archit ect s and pow er during Est ado Novo ( Cardoso, Maia 2011) t his being a rat her polem ical issue in t he cont ext of nat ional hist or iography ( see Pereira, Fernandes 1987; Pereira 2000; Alm eida, Maia 1986, Alm eida 1998) .
On t he ot her hand, som e aut hors ( Alm eida, 2002 Car doso, 2005; Filgueiras 1986; Mendes 1987) m ent ion t he st rong cult ural influence of geography and ant hropology. As is w ell know n cont act w it h Or lando Ribeiro and Jorge Dias’ t eam w as especially r elevant t o t he nort hern t eam s w ork ing in t he Survey. This fact , t urned out t o have int ernat ional consequences, t hrough t he choices m ade for t he st udy subm it t ed by t he Port uguese delegat ion t o t he X CI AM Congress in Dubrovnik in 1956, under t he t it le Plan for a Rural Com m unit y in Trás- os-Mont es.
From our point of v iew , since here one could ant icipat e t he art iculat ion bet w een crit ical regionalism and crit ical int ernat ionalism t hat Pedro has been building
from Carlos Ram os’ quot at ion of Em ile Schreiber '( …) int ernat ional penet rat ion, nat ional int erpret at ion, t his is t he w hole secret of harm ony in t he w orld of
t om orrow .’ ( 1986) .
I n cont rast , Survey’s cont ribut ion t o ant hropology t hrough t he record of a largely disappear ing r ural Port ugal has been st ressed ( Pereira, 2000) , as w ell as it s im port ance as a phot ographic docum ent for t he hist ory of Port uguese phot ography ( Sena, 1998) .
as w e believe t hat it should be t horoughly analized. I ndeed, one of t he biggest problem s in reading and int erpret ing t he Survey is t hat no m et hodological hom ogeneit y w hat soever bonds t he w ork of t he six t eam s t hat have done it .
This absence of a com m on m et hod reflect s it self in t he t ot al lack of unit y of t he Survey ( Alm eida 1986) . Moreover, t he aut hors' desire t o find t he diversit y in Port uguese t radit ional archit ect ure, condit ioned t heir look ‘t o read w hat in t he count ry are perm anencies, not only in t im e but also in space’ ( Alm eida 2008:
110) .
As right ly not ed by t he geographer Orlando Ribeiro ( 1998, XVI ) ‘t here are t w o w ays t o look at t he rapid t ransform at ions t he w orld goes t hrough. Many see
m ost ly t he changes, ot hers t ry t o cat ch out w hat , despit e t hem , st ays t he sam e’
A first approach t o t he Survey’s graphic m at erial im m ediat ely highlight s t he non-syst em at ic not at ion used zone by zone w hich in it self m akes it difficult for a com parat ive analysis of t he findings. I n addit ion, t he lack of uniform it y in t he charact erizat ion of t he different archit ect ural t ypes, according t o indiv idual crit er ia, m akes it im possible t o read t he global set of m aps t hat have been published.
I t w as t herefore crucial for our st udy t o t r eat all t he ex ist ing docum ent at ion t o be read as a w hole, w hat led us t o m at ch in a single m ap t he boundaries of t he zones t hat w ere surveyed.
Apart from an obv ious excess of inform at ion, t his exercise perm it t ed us t o realize t hat t he lack of t he t ypological m ap of Zone 5, Alent ej o, w ould not allow an inform at ion set . To address t his gap w e decided t o m ak e a sket ch m ap, based on a regional chart annot at ed by t his zone t eam2
2 I t is t he r egional division of t he Zone [ 5] , accor ding t o Pr of. Am or im Gir ão Esboço dum a Car t a
Aft er t reat ing digit ally all chart s and t ypological m aps associat ed in an int eract ive dat abase - an operat ing t ool t hat allow s successive approx im at ions for clear ing up inform at ion – and recorded t he various elem ent s t hat w ere considered significant by t he six t eam s of archit ect s, it w as possible t o account for t he 82 sym bols em ployed. The m ost represent at ive exam ples of popular archit ect ure in Port ugal w ere t hen t ranslat ed in different t ypes of buildings ( dw ellings, serv ices, m arket s, collect ive equipm ent , chapels,…) .
I n t he first st age of syst em at izat ion, som e elem ent s w ere excluded, for t hey did not seem relevant t o t he crit ical research being developed. As a result , st ruct ures w it h great er charact er inducer of collect ive life - h a bit a t ion - w ere highlight ed. The st ruct ures w hich have only a ut ilit y induced of collect ive life, or w it hout direct archit ect ural value, w ere rem oved3
Wit h t hese ‘cleaner’ m aps, it w as now possible t o select areas for first v isit s of key point s, w hich w it hout excessive det ail allow ed collect ing inform at ion in t he field, t hus validat ing t he choice of t hose areas t o be w orked m ore consist ent ly.
. Current ly , a set of 53 different t ypes of dw ellings is ident ified.
This in loco approach in Zone 4 ( Est rem adura) , w hich is r ich in exam ples provided w it h t hin w alls, and Zone 3 ( Beiras) , w hich is expect ed t o host exam ples of t hick w alls and space- t ransit ion has not been part icular ly useful on t his last param et er, because m any of t he exam ples regist ered by t he Survey have disappeared. How ever t here are st ill som e cases t hat allow t he crossing w it h t he graphic infor m at ion, so it is im port ant t o check t hem in t he field.
I n a second st age of syst em at izat ion, an at t em pt w as m ade t o group in t he sam e t ypological classificat ion exam ples of dw ellings separat ely underst ood and present ed as dist inct ive by t he Survey. For it seem ed t o us t hat no analyt ical advant age w as com ing from t his opt ion. A good exam ple of t his is Zone 1, w here farm houses are singled out indiv idually and Zone 2 w it h several var iat ions of dw ellings w it h balcony.
3 At t his st age we decided t o keep t he pilgr im age chapels ( zone 1) and t he chapels wit h por ch
This approach t o exam ples of vernacular archit ect ure is not int ended t o be a renew ed survey, but an int ent ional and conscious approach m eant t o verify t he w orking hypot heses form ulat ed in advance: t h ick n e ss and spa ce - t r a n sit ion as expressive values.
Beyond t he im m ediat e graphics consequences, t his w ork phase has a com ponent of crit ical int erpret at ion of t hose elem ent s, w hich requires a careful t heoret ical fram ew ork for t he opt ions t o be t aken.
We hope t hat t he release of inform at ion, current ly being w orked on new sum m ary- m aps covering t he six zones w ill event ually allow an int egrat ed reading of t he ent ire nat ional t err it ory . From t his inform at ion, w e expect result s t hat enable us t o form ulat e a t ypological r edefinit ion about t he exam ples held in t he 'Survey' and t o st art a refreshed crit ical dialogue bet w een erudit e and vernacular fields in general archit ect ural language.
Current ly , w e are in a crucial phase of our research, not only because we are now proceeding t o crit ically or ient ed recognit ions, but also because it sim ult aneously represent s a m om ent , part icular ly delicat e, t hat requires at t ent ion and disciplined sensit iv it y t o t he exam ples t o find. These w ill support t he kind of expressiv e elem ent s in t he ar chit ect ural language t hat w e propose t o analyze, i.e., t he im port ance of ‘w a ll t h ick n e ss’ in t he det erm inat ion of int erior space and t he social significance of ‘spa ce - t r a n sit ion ’ in t he socializat ion of hom e. ( Alm eida 2011a)
For t he obj ect ivit y of t his part icular reading, it is im port ant t o count on a universe of a 'st abilized' w ork, as is t he case of t he archit ect ures t hat t he " Survey" specifically refers t o. Furt herm ore, and because t hey are exam ples of vernacular archit ect ure, t hey have in our opinion t he addit ional advant age of holding an archit ect ural expression ‘spont aneous, popular, genuine charact er, in t he sense of being cult urally candid, and not being dom inat ed by erudit e ideas’
( Alm eida, 2010: 12) .
t hat t o t his dat e t he Survey on Port uguese Regional Archit ect ure hasn’t been crit ically st udied, as it deserved.
Ack n ow le dgm e n t s
This paper is funded w it h FEDER funds by t he Operat ional Com pet it iveness Pr ogr am m e –
COMPETE and nat ional funds by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia wit hin t he
proj ect Popular Archit ect ure in Port ugal. A crit ical look ( FCT: PTDC/ AUR- AQI / 099063;
COMPETE: FCOMP- 01- 0 124- FEDER- 008832) .
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Au t h or ’s ide n t ifica t ion
M a r ia H e le n a M a ia . Gr aduat e in Hist or y/ Art an d Archaeology and PhD in Modern Archit ect u re and Rest or at ion. Teach er at ESAP and president of it s Scient ific Board. Direct or of CEAA, FCT R&D unit 4041 and principal research er of it s Theory , Crit icism and Hist ory of Ar chit ect ure resear ch gr oup; Resear cher of proj ect Th e " Popular Archit ect u re in Port ugal." A Crit ical Look . Last r elat ed publicat ions include t he papers Tradit ion and Modernit y . The Hist oriography of t he Surv ey t o t he Popular Ar chit ect ur e in Port ugal ( 2010) and Ar chit ect ure and Pow er. Tow ard a Hist oriography of t he Modern Mov em ent in Port ugal ( 2011) , all w it h Alexandr a Cardoso, and From t he Port uguese House t o t he “ Popular Archit ect u re in Port ugal” : not es on t h e const ruct ion of Port uguese archit ect ural ident it y ( 2 010) . Prizes: José de Figueiredo 2008 ( ex aequ o) of Port uguese Nat ional Academ y of Fin e Art s, for t he book Pat r im ónio e Rest aur o em Port ugal ( 1825-1880) and I gnasi de Lecea 2007- 2008 of Public Art & Design Observat or y –Universit at de Barcelona, w it h Margarida Acciaiu oli and Joana Cunha Leal., as edit ors of t h e books Art e e Paisagem ( 2007) e Art e e Poder ( 2008) .
Ale x a n dr a Ca r doso. Archit ect ( FAUP, 1994) . I nt egrat ed r esear cher an d board m em ber of Cent r o de Est udos Ar naldo Araúj o ( CEAA) , R&D unit 4041 ( FCT) ; Dir ect or of CEAA ( 2003- 2010) . Has been w orking w it h Pedr o Vieir a de Alm eida since 199 5, in t he st udy of t he w ork of som e Port uguese ar chit ect s, su ch as Viana de Lim a, Arnaldo Araúj o e
Oct ávio Lix a Filgueiras. From t h ese st udies resu lt ed in several exhibit ions and publicat ions. Mem ber of t he pr oj ect Th e " Popular Ar chit ect ur e in Port ugal." A Crit ical Look ( FCT- COMPETE, 2 010- 13) . Last relat ed publicat ions, all w it h Maria Helena Maia, include t he paper s: Tradit ion and Modernit y. The Hist oriography of t he Survey t o t he Popular Archit ect ure in Port ugal ( 2010) , Archit ect ure and Pow er. Tow ar d a
Hist oriography of t he Modern Movem ent in Port ugal ( 2011) and Port uguese Popular Archit ect u re – Appr opriat ions ( 2012) .
Joa n a d a Cu n h a Le a l is Assist ant Pr ofessor of t he Depart m ent of Art Hist or y and
