Building the "black" city: approaches developed by Portuguese architects in colonial Africa

In the final period of Portuguese colonization (1945-1975), architects faced a challenge: to build the city for the local populations. This paper intends to explain the process of discovery of the native settlements and how its study contributed to develop a "black" city planned by architects. From the late 1950s on, the urban space and housing for the African populations is one of the main architectural and urban programs carried by Portuguese architects in Africa. Facing the fact of being economically impracticable and culturally undesirable to build neighbourhoods for the "native" population in a European canon, architects start to survey the African habitat in missions. The African house is one of the most studied subjects

São Tomé and Príncipe and the Work of the Colonial Planning Office (1944-1974)

No quadro colonial português da segunda metade do século XX, o urbanismo e a arquitectura de promoção pública destinados a São Tomé e Príncipe seguem os mesmos princípios de outros projectos realizados a partir de Lisboa para os territórios ultramarinos sob administração portuguesa. Uma análise da sua evolução permite elencar as políticas de Obras Públicas do governo central para o Ultramar. Esta produção urbanística e arquitectónica é essencialmente realizada no âmbito do Gabinete de Urbanização Colonial (GUC), criado ainda durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial por Marcelo Caetano, então ministro das Colónias. Localmente, a Repartição de Obras Públicas e Comunicações de São Tomé e Príncipe é também responsável por um conjunto significativo de equipamentos, principalmente destinados ao ensino primário e à saúde. A maioria destes projectos nunca foi tratada e analisada. Consequentemente, alguns dos edifícios santomenses são aqui pela primeira vez datados e a sua autoria fixada.In the Portuguese colonial context of the latter half of the 20th century publicly representative urbanism and architecture for São Tomé and Príncipe followed the same principles as other projects carried out for the Portuguese colonies from Lisbon. Analysis of their development allows one to identify the central government’s public works policies for the colonies. This planning and architectural output was essentially the work of the Colonial Planning Office (GUC), set up during World War II by Marcelo Caetano, the then Colonial Minister. Locally, the São Tomé and Príncipe Public Works and Communications Department was also responsible for a significant number of facilities, generally for primary education and health purposes. Most of these projects have never been surveyed or analysed

Middle-class Housing as a Cross-cultural and Multi-disciplinary Project: Rethinking Critical, Interpretative and Methodological Frameworks

The history of the modernization processes of post-WWII European cities could be observed through the lens of the emerging middle classes between the 1950s and the 1970s when housing significantly contributed to establishing and defining new social identities. Middle classes were the main protagonists of the rapid urban development and massive expansion that profoundly influenced the production of new estates, neighborhoods, and urban sectors, leaving relevant traces on the contemporary built environment of the European cities. In a sense, Europe, in its various civic configurations and cultural representations, became the symbol of progress and prosperity for the middle classes, an international formation restored and restructured by the middle classes which was meant to serve and protect according to a new post-war social contract

Arquitectura em Bissau e os Gabinetes de Urbanização colonial (1944-1974)

O trabalho do Gabinete de Urbanização Colonial – um organismo central dependente do Ministério das Colónias, criado em 1944 e exclusivamente dedicado à execução de projectos de arquitectura e de urbanismo para as colónias, nunca foi objecto de uma investigação monográfica, embora surja parcialmente citado em algumas investigações sobre arquitectura portuguesa em África.Neste artigo, a cidade de Bissau, capital da Guiné Portuguesa a partir de 1941, funciona como um caso de estudo demonstrativo dos diferentes papéis que o Gabinete assume ao longo das suas três décadas de existência. Como primeira etapa da análise dos princípios de actuação dos arquitectos ao serviço do Gabinete e da cultura de projecto seguida, procura-se aqui conhecer a extensão dos projectos efectivamente realizados, a datação de edifícios e a identificação algumas autorias assim como verificar o estado de conservação em que este património actualmente se encontra.The work of Colonial Urbanization Department – the central body reporting to the Ministry of Colonies created in 1944 and exclusively devoted to the execution of architecture and urban design for the colonies - was never object of a monographic study, despite being partially mentioned in some Portuguese architecture investigations in Africa. In this article, the city of Bissau, capital city of Portuguese Guinea as from 1941, pictures as a demonstrative study case on different roles undertaken by the Department along with its three decades of existence. As the first step for this analysis on both the early architects work for the Department and the culture of project they followed, we try to understand the extension of effectively performed projects, the age of buildings, and some authorships identifica

Post-WWII Modernism with a glaze: A comparison between Antwerp and Lisbon

Post World War II European modern housing often exhibited a Corbusian influence, but Le Corbusier was not embraced to the same extent everywhere, as noticed during exchanges between the University of Lisbon and the University of Antwerp in the ambit of the COST-Action 18137 on MCMH. While Belgium has several 1950s social housing projects, strongly indebted in its Unité d’habitation in Marseilles, Portugal does not. There, social housing architecture remained rather conservative, even though Corbusian features manifested themselves in some middle-class mass housing projects, such as the complex on Avenida Estados Unidos da América in Lisbon (1954-1966) designed by Lucínio Cruz, Alberto Ayres de Sousa and Mário Oliveira. While the housing blocks are on pilotis, they also have notable Art-Deco elements. In Belgium, free-standing modernist housing on pilotis with Art-Deco features also appears, such as the housing project at the Jan De Voslei in Antwerp designed by Jos Smolderen (1952-1967). These Modernist/Art-Deco hybrids have never been explored in depth because they are considered not radical enough. However, these cases shed light on how (older) architects mediated between traditional architecture and Modernism, between their own preferences and those of the state or housing company. They illuminate the political, social, and urban context in which these buildings were created. This paper explains why the principles Belgian architects applied to social housing were closer to Lisbon’s middle-class housing than their similar buildings for low-income housing. Based on cross-referencing archival material, legislation, on-site observations, and a study of the political, urban and social context, this paper posits a re-reading of Le Corbusier’s legacy in middle-class housing in Lisbon versus Antwerp

Optimistic Suburbia – Large housing complexes for the middle-class

The special dossier Optimistic Suburbia – Large housing complexes for the middle-class brings closure to the cycle initiated with the International Conference Optimistic Suburbia – Large housing complexes for the middle-class beyond Europe, which took place at ISCTE-IUL from 20 to 22 May 2015. This conference integrated the research project “Homes for the biggest number: Lisbon, Luanda, Macau” funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Principal Investigator: Ana Vaz Milheiro, PTDC/ATP-A..

Exploratory Talks as a Tool for Co-Diagnosis: Comparative Analysis of Residential Neighbourhoods in New Belgrade & Almere Haven

[Intro] The paper introduces a participatory tool for assessment of the Middle-Class Mass Housing (MCMH) in Europe that was simultaneously applied in two studies, on the two cases New Belgrade (Serbia) and Almere Haven (The Netherlands). The studies were exploring the values, problems and opportunities of these residential neighbourhoods through the eyes of their residents. [Method] A comparative analysis reveals contrasting and complementary aspects of the two cases. Exploratory interviews and surveys were used to collect testimonies of residents, informing the method of assessment (co-diagnosis) in residential neighbourhoods. By applying the same tool and comparing results, the paper contributes to a validation of this method for research on MCMH neighbourhoods in different regions and for different MCMH typologies and scales. [Result] The paper highlights some main themes of residents’ analysis of their neighbourhood’s strengths and weaknesses. Aspects discussed are, among others, deterioration (technical, functional, social), sense of community, place attachment, maintenance and taking care, ownership and appropriation, quality of public spaces and green areas, satisfaction and comfort. Both researches are still in development, but some preliminary conclusions can be sketched. Although both cases were built in the same decades (1970s-80s), they seem to hold opposite architectural and urban characteristics. New Belgrade is composed of modernist blocks with mass housing types in a high-rise urban pattern with mainly collective green spaces. Almere Haven is a suburban low-rise pattern and consists of a wide variety of typologies, materials and a range of private, collective and public green spaces. However, the residents’ opinions and assessments show many similarities, regarding the themes they address and the values and problems they identify. [Value for MCMH] The paper illustrates the diversity of MCMH in two different European regions and projects, identifying the broad scope that is needed to assess MCMH. Moreover, the method of exploratory talks with residents is identified as an important participatory tool within the broader analytical framework for MCMH neighbourhoods

A Construção do Brasil - Relações com a Cultura Arquitectónica Portuguesa

Relações entre as culturas arquitectónicas brasileira e portuguesa entre a independência do Brasil e o período moderno

Wartime residential rural landscapes the Guinea-Bissau case during the colonial/liberation war with the Portuguese (1963–1974)

AbstractThis paper aims to study the military housing campaigns carried out in the last 14 years of Portuguese colonialism (1961–1975), through archival and documentary treatment, cartography, historical and architectural description. Critical assessment and architectural analysis of the settlements and villages promoted in a warfare context allows an assessment of how large-scale housing programs are still present in the built and social landscapes of formerly colonized countries. Some of the data recollected suggests that, in Guinea, about 100 military resettlements were built; in Angola, only in the Lunda region, 730 villages were intervened; and in Mozambique the new settlements caused the displacement of one million peasants. The article will focus on the Guinea case by introducing what is described here as ‘the architects’ feebleness’, debating the pragmatism of the military in opposition to the idealism of the architects