What role can architects play in defining the public space of the future digital world? Looking back to the Carnation Revolution, when poor living conditions in Portugal became a matter of urgent political discussion, several architects turned to Television (TV) to amplify their message and take immediate action in the emerging democratic public space. Becoming field broadcasters themselves, architects could be seen on screen giving visibility to major urban problems, interacting with the population and calling for political change, thus building a televised dimension of architectural action closely linked to societal challenges. An open, democratic and sustainable Europe fit for the digital age is one of the EU’s top priorities for 2030, especially reinforced after the outbreak of COVID-19, where digital technologies were crucial in bringing people together at a time of social distance, as a means of providing remote forms of socialization, education and work. The EU Declaration aims to put people at the centre of Europe’s digital transformation using technologies that contribute to a fair and inclusive society that encourages participation in the Digital Public Space (DPS). Based on these assumptions, this research (ARCH-TV) will explore the legacy of Portuguese Public TV (RTP) to identify future opportunities in digital transformation for distance learning and cultural consumption, while aiming to contribute to a larger conversation on how DPS can be actively constructed and defined through broadcasting of architectural knowledge, history and culture, connecting architects with society at large on current issues. ARCH-TV proposes a research development in 3 stages: 1) Historical analysis of the participation of Portuguese architects in RTP, in the course of its institutional evolution: From instrument of propaganda for the New State since its first broadcast in 1956, to laboratory of experimentation for the growing democracy after ’74, to object of ratings with T...

The main challenge of this Cost Action is to create a transnational network that gathers European researchers carrying studies on Middle-Class Mass Housing (MCMH) built in Europe since the 1950s. This network will allow the development new scientific approaches by discussing, testing and assessing case studies and their different methodologies and perspectives. MCMH has been generally underestimated in urban and architectural studies and there is still a lack of comparative analysis and global perspectives. The number of transnational publications and scientific meetings has also been scarce. By crossing different approaches focus on Architecture, Urbanism, Planning, Public Policies, History, Sociology new concepts and methodologies will arise. Therefore, the Action aims to produce a wider understanding of MCMH sprawl, deepening on-going researches and focusing on the existing case studies. The current methodologies, surveys, catalogue and contextualization allow an initial mapping of relevant case studies, their diverse degrees of resilience and how they have been adapted to current (urban and social) conditions. It is intended to develop the knowledge of the interaction between spatial forms, behaviours and satisfaction and to combine methodologies of architectural and social analyses. The Action will be developed by three Working Groups, coordinated by a Core Group: Documenting the MCMH; Development of a specific set of (new) concepts for MCMH analyses; Leverage contemporary architecture interventions and Public Policies. In the Action will be involved researchers related to Mass Housing, MCMH Architecture and Urbanism, Planning and Public Policies, Sociological studies, Architecture History and Modern Heritage.

The goal of the project is to carry out a compared analysis of Middle Class Mass Housing (MCMH) in Europe, Africa and Asia, introducing new case studies to deepen the existing research, made with successfully tested methodologies: survey, catalogue and contextualization of housing complexes built between the 1950s and the 1980s in Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Angola and China. It is intended to identify the existing housing and urban models and to map the changes after 50 years of use in order to understand how they have adapted to current (urban and social) conditions, and to support future actions. The case studies are located in the peripheries of Milan, Antwerp, Lisbon, Luanda and Macao, in areas that they helped to consolidate, and were selected by: 1) scale; 2) number of inhabitants; 3) accessibility; 4) urban and architectural quality. Based on on-going national studies, a cross-reading that reflects the expansion of cities in the context of demographic growth after WWII is proposed. The impact of residential models developed by architects in European contexts will be analysed, and also their transposition to territories formerly under colonial rule. The studies that analyse the transcontinental housing panorama under an architectural and sociological perspective are confined to some regional cases, not assuring a more global vision that includes: 1) the historical description of the physical evolution of the dwelling, the building and the neighbourhood; 2) the survey and analysis of their inhabitants' profile. We want to assess the resilience of these complexes, including testing and proposing ways to prolong its life by updating the functional organization of the apartments, by renewing the infrastructures and building systems and by outlining the profile of its residents. Special attention will be given to the way of promotion (public or private) and its effect on the profile of the current inhabitants (pioneer, recent, immigrant). The neighbourhoods are char...