Portuguese State joins Casa da Arquitectura
This participation represents a strong commitment by the State to the strategic and competitive importance of architecture as an “area capable of establishing several bridges with the most diverse areas and entities and the cultural, scientific, artistic and technical interchange with national and international entities”, says the agreement. This State commitment includes, among others, an annual financial support of 750 thousand euros and cooperation in carrying out a set of activities in partnership.
The State's association with the Casa da Arquitectura (CA) project is the recognition of the excellence of the work that has been developed by the institution since its foundation, in 2007, and from 2017 onwards, with its constitution as the Portuguese Centre for Architecture after an investment of 10 million euros by the Municipality of Matosinhos in the current premises. The State also recognizes the work carried out, both in the dissemination and promotion of national and international architecture, and in the conservation and treatment of a growing number of collections by prestigious Portuguese and foreign architects, which also resulted in the arrival of a valuable documentary heritage in Portugal.
This connection between the State and the CA represents yet another incentive for the institution's role as a strategic asset in the territory, in Matosinhos and for Portugal, with the ability to attract and retain people, projects and entities of an international nature.
The cooperation between the State and Casa da Arquitectura will make it possible to work on a number of areas, such as cultural heritage, land use planning, city policy, landscape, environment and tourism, among others, and encourage the study and the investigation of the vast documentary collection in its care.
Casa da Arquitectura recently created its Studies and Documentation Centre, intended to promote and support research on contemporary architecture, including the various collections entrusted to it.
The agreement between the four areas of Government and Casa da Arquitectura provides for the following joint lines of work:
Ministry of Economy and Digital Transition (METD)
The participation of the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transition in Casa da Arquitectura, through Turismo de Portugal, IP, provides support for the creation of tourist itineraries and initiatives within the scope of the international promotion of Portugal based on architecture, namely the identification and creation of visit programmes, events and exhibition content about architecture in Portugal.
For METD, “the agreement now established continues the strategy of diversifying and valuing assets in the various regions of the country and throughout the year, guaranteeing an offer of expressive quality. The joint work established with this document will allow the stabilization and creation of new welcoming means for Portugal, with a view to valuing territories, local economies and their populations, in addition to attracting better tourists, whether national or international. Architecture can and should be another vector in the consolidation of the valuable brand that is Portugal”.
Ministry of Culture (MC)
Following the occasional support given to Casa da Arquitectura last year within the scope of its programming and activities, the involvement of the Ministry of Culture in this agreement takes place through the Cultural Promotion Fund, and is intended for activities of critical, theoretical reflection and practice, and the constitution, already in progress, of a collection with a view to holding an exhibition, programme of activities and catalogue on the 50 years of Portuguese Democracy architecture 1974 – 2024.
The Casa da Arquitectura exhibition “Radar Veneza” focuses on the collection of national representations at the Venice Architecture Biennale, donated by the General Directorate for Arts to this institution. The exhibition opened on 8 May and runs until 20 October, 2021. The Ministry of Culture “understands that cooperation with Casa da Arquitectura is fundamental for the affirmation of the creative, theoretical, reflective and authorial dimension of architecture. These dimensions participate, with equal and full rights, in the daily relationship we have with architecture. Due to its role in the composition of landscapes, architecture has this condition and advantage of being art on permanent display, making each of us a spectator. With this partnership, the Government assumes the cultural importance of architecture, as a transversal discipline for the study of cities and for the experience of communities, knowledge and intervention in the territory, promoting good practices of artistic creation at the service of the community.”
Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES)
The participation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education is intended for doctoral training and scientific employment within the scope of the collaboration of Casa da Arquitectura and R&D units in activities to support scientific knowledge about architecture in Portugal, integrating interdisciplinary studies and multidisciplinary in different areas. Through a specific agreement with the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), it is planned to support ten doctoral grants per year and support for up to two contracts for doctoral researchers, for five years. The MCTES considers that “the creation of a solid body of multidisciplinary knowledge on the built environment requires the development of research in several scientific areas, including the disciplinary dimension of architectural design and its historical and social background, the urban dimension of architecture, and its integration into the city, landscape and territory, as well as the artistic and technical dimensions of architecture. The cooperation between Casa da Arquitetura and the scientific and academic communities is therefore essential to inspire a continuous and in-depth dialogue between different areas of knowledge, including the commitment to advanced training of human resources and the study of the work of Portuguese architects.”
Ministry of Environment and Climate Action (MAAC)
The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action supports Casa da Arquitectura through the Environmental Fund, pointing to the strengthening the scientific knowledge base on architecture in Portugal, through interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies in the areas of architectural design, engineering and construction, materials, sustainability of the built heritage, among others. The support of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action to Casa da Arquitectura, through the Environmental Fund, “will be fundamental to increase scientific knowledge about sustainability applied to architecture. As a multidisciplinary activity, it is essential that architecture consider, study and deepen fundamental aspects such as the optimization of resources (energy, water, raw materials), the circularity of materials or energy efficiency. Like many other areas, this decade will be decisive for us to change behaviour and unequivocally recognize that the limits of the planet are the limits of any and all human activity.” For the President of Casa da Arquitectura, José Manuel Dias da Fonseca, “this agreement is of the utmost importance, as it represents the central State's commitment to an Institution with an immense strategic relevance for Portuguese culture and architecture”. And he continues: “Casa da Arquitectura has established itself as a major national structure, based on a project and investment of a cultural nature, but also on urban rehabilitation, fully thought out, promoted and implemented by the Matosinhos Municipality, which for decades has continuously assumed a huge cultural responsibility, in this specific case in the area of architecture, also honouring its greatest figure, the architect Álvaro Siza, who is also one of the biggest names in Portuguese culture and world architecture”.
In the photo: António Costa on 15 November 2017, after visiting the new premises of Casa da Arquitectura a few days before its opening in the Real Vinícola Quarter, in Matosinhos
The State's association with the Casa da Arquitectura (CA) project is the recognition of the excellence of the work that has been developed by the institution since its foundation, in 2007, and from 2017 onwards, with its constitution as the Portuguese Centre for Architecture after an investment of 10 million euros by the Municipality of Matosinhos in the current premises. The State also recognizes the work carried out, both in the dissemination and promotion of national and international architecture, and in the conservation and treatment of a growing number of collections by prestigious Portuguese and foreign architects, which also resulted in the arrival of a valuable documentary heritage in Portugal.
This connection between the State and the CA represents yet another incentive for the institution's role as a strategic asset in the territory, in Matosinhos and for Portugal, with the ability to attract and retain people, projects and entities of an international nature.
The cooperation between the State and Casa da Arquitectura will make it possible to work on a number of areas, such as cultural heritage, land use planning, city policy, landscape, environment and tourism, among others, and encourage the study and the investigation of the vast documentary collection in its care.
Casa da Arquitectura recently created its Studies and Documentation Centre, intended to promote and support research on contemporary architecture, including the various collections entrusted to it.
The agreement between the four areas of Government and Casa da Arquitectura provides for the following joint lines of work:
Ministry of Economy and Digital Transition (METD)
The participation of the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transition in Casa da Arquitectura, through Turismo de Portugal, IP, provides support for the creation of tourist itineraries and initiatives within the scope of the international promotion of Portugal based on architecture, namely the identification and creation of visit programmes, events and exhibition content about architecture in Portugal.
For METD, “the agreement now established continues the strategy of diversifying and valuing assets in the various regions of the country and throughout the year, guaranteeing an offer of expressive quality. The joint work established with this document will allow the stabilization and creation of new welcoming means for Portugal, with a view to valuing territories, local economies and their populations, in addition to attracting better tourists, whether national or international. Architecture can and should be another vector in the consolidation of the valuable brand that is Portugal”.
Ministry of Culture (MC)
Following the occasional support given to Casa da Arquitectura last year within the scope of its programming and activities, the involvement of the Ministry of Culture in this agreement takes place through the Cultural Promotion Fund, and is intended for activities of critical, theoretical reflection and practice, and the constitution, already in progress, of a collection with a view to holding an exhibition, programme of activities and catalogue on the 50 years of Portuguese Democracy architecture 1974 – 2024.
The Casa da Arquitectura exhibition “Radar Veneza” focuses on the collection of national representations at the Venice Architecture Biennale, donated by the General Directorate for Arts to this institution. The exhibition opened on 8 May and runs until 20 October, 2021. The Ministry of Culture “understands that cooperation with Casa da Arquitectura is fundamental for the affirmation of the creative, theoretical, reflective and authorial dimension of architecture. These dimensions participate, with equal and full rights, in the daily relationship we have with architecture. Due to its role in the composition of landscapes, architecture has this condition and advantage of being art on permanent display, making each of us a spectator. With this partnership, the Government assumes the cultural importance of architecture, as a transversal discipline for the study of cities and for the experience of communities, knowledge and intervention in the territory, promoting good practices of artistic creation at the service of the community.”
Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES)
The participation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education is intended for doctoral training and scientific employment within the scope of the collaboration of Casa da Arquitectura and R&D units in activities to support scientific knowledge about architecture in Portugal, integrating interdisciplinary studies and multidisciplinary in different areas. Through a specific agreement with the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), it is planned to support ten doctoral grants per year and support for up to two contracts for doctoral researchers, for five years. The MCTES considers that “the creation of a solid body of multidisciplinary knowledge on the built environment requires the development of research in several scientific areas, including the disciplinary dimension of architectural design and its historical and social background, the urban dimension of architecture, and its integration into the city, landscape and territory, as well as the artistic and technical dimensions of architecture. The cooperation between Casa da Arquitetura and the scientific and academic communities is therefore essential to inspire a continuous and in-depth dialogue between different areas of knowledge, including the commitment to advanced training of human resources and the study of the work of Portuguese architects.”
Ministry of Environment and Climate Action (MAAC)
The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action supports Casa da Arquitectura through the Environmental Fund, pointing to the strengthening the scientific knowledge base on architecture in Portugal, through interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies in the areas of architectural design, engineering and construction, materials, sustainability of the built heritage, among others. The support of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action to Casa da Arquitectura, through the Environmental Fund, “will be fundamental to increase scientific knowledge about sustainability applied to architecture. As a multidisciplinary activity, it is essential that architecture consider, study and deepen fundamental aspects such as the optimization of resources (energy, water, raw materials), the circularity of materials or energy efficiency. Like many other areas, this decade will be decisive for us to change behaviour and unequivocally recognize that the limits of the planet are the limits of any and all human activity.” For the President of Casa da Arquitectura, José Manuel Dias da Fonseca, “this agreement is of the utmost importance, as it represents the central State's commitment to an Institution with an immense strategic relevance for Portuguese culture and architecture”. And he continues: “Casa da Arquitectura has established itself as a major national structure, based on a project and investment of a cultural nature, but also on urban rehabilitation, fully thought out, promoted and implemented by the Matosinhos Municipality, which for decades has continuously assumed a huge cultural responsibility, in this specific case in the area of architecture, also honouring its greatest figure, the architect Álvaro Siza, who is also one of the biggest names in Portuguese culture and world architecture”.
In the photo: António Costa on 15 November 2017, after visiting the new premises of Casa da Arquitectura a few days before its opening in the Real Vinícola Quarter, in Matosinhos
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