Open AccessThe notion of limit in architectural theory. Two case studies in Portugal
Author(s) -
Rui Jorge Garcia Ramos,
Tiago Lopes Dias
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
zarch
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2387-0346
pISSN - 2341-0531
DOI - 10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.2020144293
Subject(s) - architecture , urbanism , panorama , portuguese , subject (documents) , epistemology , sociology , history of architecture , space (punctuation) , ecological urbanism , limit (mathematics) , structuring , urban theory , computer science , philosophy , art , visual arts , political science , law , mathematics , engineering , mathematical analysis , linguistics , civil engineering , library science , operating system
Modern Portuguese architecture has been seen as the result of an eminently empirical and intuitive practice, dissociated from any effort of theoretical structuring. This paper intends to contradict that predominant view, presenting the notion of spatial limit as a subject that earned particular consideration from a younger, more critical and intellectually demanding generation of architects. Firstly, it introduces two notions directly related to limit - ‘extensions of the dwelling’ and ‘transition-space’ - presented in theses by Nuno Portas (b. 1934) and Pedro Vieira de Almeida (1933-2011) respectively, two highly innovative works in the academic panorama of early 1960s. Next, it focuses on the fundamental role each of the notions taken in investigative works that are parallel in time but substantially different. The first, Habitação evolutiva, is a typological study reflecting the spirit of its time by claiming the ‘right to the city’ as the founding principle of a model critical of CIAM urbanism. The second is an essay stemming from a critical reflexion on the work of an eclectic architect that eludes categorization (Raul Lino, 1879-1974) which sheds light on the need for a critical approach to the history of modern architecture.