«Um coro a duas vozes» [A two-voice choir]

In Coimbra, there is an architectural culture of theoretical and academic dissemination. On the scientific and pedagogical level, that culture is primarily embodied by the University of Coimbra and its research centers. 

On an architectural practice level and, more specifically, on a level of the relative importance of the works carried out in the city, that voice is not, however, as flourishing, not as strong, and, above all, not as continuous or systematic. It is not as if no work has been done. The selection of the twenty-five works exhibited here, corresponding to the last twenty-five years, was no easy task. Some others would inevitably need to be included, attesting to a considerable number of actions that can be inserted in that voice.

The initiative presented here, primarily intended to celebrate the 725th anniversary of the University of Coimbra, also aims to contribute once again to raising that voice previously mentioned as being more academic, or theoretical, of cultural rise through comparative and referential knowledge. However, it also contains within itself the secret hope that this voice, through its intensity and insistence, will contribute to elevating the other voice even higher, which is designated as more operative, of cultural rise through patent, classical, and qualified practice. The latter is the most efficient humus of the city and the University of Coimbra, at least the European university, needs the city as bread for the mouth, never mind the anthropological analogy. It needs the city to requalify itself, to elevate itself, and to live healthily.

José António Bandeirinha

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«Há 25 anos, algo mudou nesta Universidade com 7 séculos» [Twenty-five years ago, something changed in this seven-century-old University]

Twenty-five years ago, Portugal had two major campuses of public higher education in architecture, – at the University of Porto and at the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa – to which a «terceira opção» [third option] was then added at the University of Coimbra. The Department of Architecture (DARQ) of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC) endured the following decades battling to assert its own prestige, which is now acknowledged both nationally and internationally. Such was achieved through the architects, artists, and researchers in architecture teaching at DARQ, each with a different professional and pedagogical background. In their own way, each one of those professors left an indelible mark on the following generations of students, as well as on the culture of the University of Coimbra itself, which then needed a new cultural and scientific «adrenalina» [adrenaline].

The creatio of DARQ was still contemporary in the launch of many urbanistic and architectural competitions, promoted by the University of Coimbra for its new thematic campuses, in which some of the most prominent teaching-architects were involved, whether designers or juries, in choosing what works to build. Many of them responded to institutional, municipal, among other orders, which helped to improve the urban life of Coimbra over the last few decades.

Twenty-five years ago, something changed in this seven-century-old University indeed. Whoever does not understand so, has not understood anything at all.

Nuno Grande

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«Manual de instruções para uma visita à arquitetura» [Owner’s manual for an architectural visit]

This event celebrates architecture and its contribution to building a contemporary heritage of the city, challenging those who live in it.

Architecture represents itself since its perception and enjoyment will only be entirely carried out in its physical presence. The representation of the work only provides tools to critically confront its presence. Therefore, the «Livros de Obra»¹ anticipates the work built, since they are actually the owner's books for its construction. The models establish altimetry relationships between the various projects and between the cities in which they are located. They represent the site-plan levels on a planned map, marking their location.

Films record spaces being used, calling upon the gaze of those who designed them and preparing the gaze of those who will visit the work.

Visits to the works will be a key moment of this event. Itineraries take place in territorial proximity, and they will always be accompanied by an architecture student, who will contextualize the work and emphasize the aspects that are more relevant to its clarification. Its perception and comprehension exercise will be up to each visitor, having already all the other tools of its representation.

Désirée Pedro

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¹«Livros de Obras» are documents kept at each construction site, used to register all relevant facts related to the licensed worksite, the main characteristics of the building, and the identified construction solutions.