Letter to Raul Lino : cultural identity in Portuguese architecture : the 'Inquerito' and the architecture of its protagonists in the 1960s

Ollero Neves, R

Abstract

Cultural identity is an issue that has concerned Portuguese artistic thought in a
subliminal way ever since the end of the XIX century, with influences in architecture.
Raul Lino, at the beginning of the last Century, was one of those who tried in a
conscious manner, to tackle this problem both at the practical and theoretical level.
Nevertheless, he never lived to see the real meaning of his proposal fully understood,
not even after the retrospective of his work in the 1970 Exhibition in Lisbon.
The intention behind this "Letter" is to give continuity to the perspective first
formulated by him, starting from the analysis of one of the most significant
accomplishments in the history of the Portuguese architecture, the INQUERITO into
vernacular architecture.
Having guaranteed the importance of cultural identity versus architecture as the driving
force of the research, via the testimonies given by a host of relevant personalities in
Portuguese cultural life, and evaluated the antecedents and convergences of the identity
issue, the research field was defined as well as the methodology. This is based on a
qualitative model which rendered the investigation viable, enabling the echoes of the
INQUERITO to be appreciated in the architecture of the 1960s.
The INQUERITO is therefore the subject of analysis and evaluation, as an instrument of
research into the unique Portuguese vernacular architecture. The erudite architecture of
its "protagonists" is also evaluated using similar criteria to assess the concerns with
identity issue, mostly of a qualitative nature, as a corollary to the sensitivity side of the
same issue.
Finally, the importance of the identity perspective gave rise to an attempt at projecting
the findings onto the teaching of architecture, so as to improve on the necessary
humanization of relationships between real places and all their actors.

Citation

Ollero Neves, R. Letter to Raul Lino : cultural identity in Portuguese architecture : the 'Inquerito' and the architecture of its protagonists in the 1960s. (Thesis). University of Salford, UK

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jul 1, 2009
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 1, 2009
• Additional Information: Additional Information : PhD supervisors: Stephen Curwell (University of Salford) and Professor Horäcio Bonifäcio (University of Lusiada)
• Award Date: Jan 1, 2001