SURVEYS ON VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE. THEIR SIGNIFICANCE IN 20TH CENTURY ARCHITECTURAL CULTURE. Conference Proceedings

Abstract

A survey on vernacular architecture, entitled Inquérito à Arquitectura Regional Portuguesa [Survey on Regional Architecture in Portugal] was promoted by the Architects’ Union between 1955 and 1960. It benefited from official government support and was conducted by some of the main modern architects. It come out as a two volume book – Popular Architecture in Portugal– published in 1961 and reprinted in 1979, 1988 and 2004. Taken from the outset as being able to provide “the basis for an honest, active and healthy regionalism” (Keil do Amaral, 1947), the Survey, and the book it prompted, had great influence on Portuguese architectural culture. As it was accomplished in an historical turning point, when some of the principles of Modern Movement were being critically reviewed both nationally and internationally, the Survey’s outcomes encouraged modern architects to recover national history and tradition. Moreover, the Portuguese Survey on vernacular architecture constitutes a remarkable register of the ancient rural country at the exact moment it was about to disappear. This fact would also guarantee its importance to other fields of study, such as anthropology, history, and photography. In association with an ongoing research project Popular Architecture in Portugal. A critical look, this conference aims to discuss the background, conditions, methodologies, published results, effects and the significance of such kind of surveys in the 20th century architecture and architectural thought, and be able to understand the Portuguese case in the international cultural context.