Arquiteturas expositivas e Identidade Nacional: o Pavilhão de Portugal em Exposições Internacionais entre a Primeira República e o Estado Novo

Teresa João Baptista Neto

Key information

Authors:

Teresa João Baptista Neto (Teresa João Baptista Neto)

Supervisors:

Vítor Manuel de Matos Carvalho Araújo (Vítor Manuel de Matos Carvalho Araújo)

Published in

07/07/2016

Abstract

International exhibitions are, in the architectural field, excellent means for experimental practice and symbiotic influences, where novelty is tested with particular boldness, due to the ephemeral nature of these expositive buildings, although there are also continuities and even set- backs. The close connections between these architectures and identity aspects of each country manifest themselves in the design of the respective pavilions, conditioned by political, ideological and conceptual parameters. There were nine representations of Portugal, between 1915 and 1970, which involved the construction of a national pavilion. The analysis performed focuses on certain circumstances such as politics and economy, determining national policies for our participations, and the image of the country that should be projected, in discourses adjusted to the regimes and their strategies of affirmation and propaganda. In this process and under the pressure of the architectural competitions, a discussion around a national style erupts, in which, for the first time, architects participate and arise to the spotlight, whether it was defending historicist, vernacular, or a ‘national modernism’ inspirations. The entire process around the pavilions in this study, among competitions or adjudication, construction and use, reflect important aspects of the evolution of theory and architectural practice in Portugal, despite the many existing constraints. The provided overview also allows assessing the close relation between architectural design and decorative program, gradually developed towards achieving a total work of art, functioning as a poster of the country, taken to the five parts of the world.