Participatory social architecture became an integral part of the discipline from the late 1950s onwards. Several architects and theorists (Giancarlo de Carlo, Colin Ward, J.F.C. Turner, later N.J. Habraken) experimented on different types of client-architect relationships and theorised a different understanding of architecture itself, with a greater emphasis on the process rather than merely on the outcomes – the 'housing as a verb' trope, which Turner retrospectively introduced in 1972. In response to large-scale public demonstrations in the wake of the Portuguese' Carnation Revolution' of 25 April 1974, the Serviço Ambulatório de Apoio Local (SAAL) was established by the Ministry of Housing, Social Affairs, and the Environment. Aimed at addressing the urgent need for new housing for the underprivileged communities in urban Portugal, the Service was modelled around a team of experts, known as Brigades. They were to support residents' committees, facilitating housing projects that were conceived with the local communities, instead of being imposed on them from above. The program involved 170 projects across the country, involving for the most part architects from the 4th generation of Portuguese modern architects (4-GPMA). Through a historical, social, and cultural approach, the aim of this research is to analyze and illustrate the evolution of participatory architecture in Portugal and its relationship with critical thinking and international practices. To address the question of what we can learn from this creative and socially engaged experience vis-à-vis the dramatic housing crisis that Portugal is currently facing. This research traces the surfacing of participatory social architecture in Portugal, especially focusing on the work of the 4th generation of Portuguese modern architects (4GPMA) s in relation to the question of housing in post-1974 Portugal. This is the context this research intends to explore, particularly focusing as a case study on the work of RH...

The research project 'The Critical Monumentality of Álvaro Siza – Projects of Urban Renovation after the 1998 Lisbon World Exposition' aims at identifying, characterising, debating, and reflecting upon the works of Álvaro Siza, within the context of the urban policies launched in Portugal in the early 2000s. This research project ‘The Critical Monumentality of Álvaro Siza – Projects of urban renovation after the 1998 Lisbon World Exposition' seeks to articulate the relationships produced by urban interventions and buildings upon the specific contexts they engage with. The distinctive feature of this project is as a critical analysis of the idea of monumentality in Álvaro Siza’s works. Three overlapping analytical focal themes will be used as methodology: territory, urban and architectural culture, and social impact of interventions. For the purposes of this research, from the study cases - Portugal Pavilion of Expo’98 (1998), Atlantic Park in Vila do Conde (2005), Leça da Palmeira waterfront in Matosinhos (2007), Municipal Library in Viana do Castelo (2008) and Nadir Afonso Contemporary Art Museum in Chaves (2015) - will be drawn a comparative hypotheses in order to measure the impact of the project and the architectural culture resulting from these experiences. Comparative assessments will also be made with other Álvaro Siza projects that were part of similar urban renovation initiatives, carried out after other major events from the last decade of the 20th century, e.g. the Meteorology Centre in Barcelona (1992) designed for the Olympic Games, and the Hannover Pavilion projected for the 2000 World Exposition, and actually rebuilt in Coimbra, in central Portugal, in the course of the Polis programme for that city.

The research project called 'Grand Projects - Architectural and Urbanistic Operations after the 1998 Lisbon World Exposition' aims at identifying, characterizing, debating, and reflecting the urban policies and architectural works produced in Portugal after the 1998 Lisbon World Exposition (Expo98). The study is grounded on the conviction that the effects of this 'urban laboratory' cannot dispense a predominantly analytical and interpretative work, capable of mapping and qualifying the urban, projectual, and technological culture implemented in Portugal in the two decades that followed the Expo98 ventures. In 2008, a decade past over the Lisbon Exposition, the Lisbon Municipality presented its 'General Plan for Waterfront Interventions' (Plano Geral de Intervenções da Frente Ribeirinha - PGIFR), aiming at establishing new urban continuities, by extending the model of the exposition from the West part of the city to the East (between the Trancão River and the Pedrouços dock), through the adaptation of some harbor infrastructure under the state administration. The dynamics generated by PGIFR framed the development of projects of both great scale and major strategic importance, e.g., the Champalimaud Foundation in Pedrouços district, designed by Charles Correa (1930-2015); the National Coach Museum in Belém area, designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha (b. 1928); the EDP Headquarters at Boavista embankment, by Manuel (b. 1963) and Francisco (b.1964) Aires Mateus; the Ribeira das Naus public space, by João Ferreira Nunes (b.1960) and João Gomes da Silva (b.1962); or the future Cruise Terminal in Santa Apolónia, by Carrilho da Graça (b.1952), currently under construction. The research project 'Grand Projects - Architectural and Urbanistic Operations after the 1998 Lisbon World Exposition' seeks to deepen the relations produced by urban interventions with specific contexts in which they operate on. The distinctive feature of this project consists in the launching of a critical ...

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