Signs of the “Survey” influence in the CODA projects presented in EBAP

• Author(s): Fernandes, Eduardo Jorge Cabral dos Santos
• Date: 2012
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/24849
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Survey; Vernacular; EBAP; CODA
• Document Type: Conference paper
• Language: English
• Contributor(s): Universidade do Minho

Description

The collection of documents archived at the Documentation Centre of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto, concerning the Contests for Obtaining the Diploma of Architect (CODA) represents a very important image of the work of Porto architects as a result of the teaching in the School of Fine Arts of Porto (EBAP), being the moment of transition between academic training and the beginning of professional work. The analysis of the CODA presented in the 40’s shows an evolution from the first nationalist projects to more hybrid proposals (hesitating between the use of traditional materials and modern languages) and, after 1948, a general trend displaying the influence of the ‘International Style’. But as early as 1955, we can notice in the CODA the appearance of a new theoretical consciousness that clearly shows the influence of the ‘Survey on Vernacular Architecture’. The enthusiastic adherence to the modern movement after the 1948 Congress is justified by the reaction against censorship and the consciousness of the ideological misconceptions underlying Raul Lino’s ‘Doctrine of the Portuguese House’. However, the cooling of this enthusiasm showed a certain ideological vacuum, because the discourse that dominated the members of ODAM (Organization of Modern Architects) and ICAT (Cultural Initiatives of Art and Technique) was directly imported from an internationalist discourse that revealed inadequate to the realities of our country. The perception of this vacuum (and the will to fill this void) can justify the enthusiastic adoption of the methodology implicit in the ‘Survey’ (and in the early works of Fernando Távora) as a new paradigm, after 1955. But, likewise, this reference lost strength over the years, after the publication of ‘Popular Architecture in Portugal’ (in 1961), as it was becoming clear that the country portrayed there was disappearing and that the ‘Survey’ influenced languages were turning into a widespread style that no longer made sense as a reflection of contemporary Portuguese culture.