illustrated fragments on the “Porto School”

Abstract

I was first admitted into the school as a student fifty-five years ago and I have been teaching there for forty. I lived through several episodes of its history, being a traveling participant. The first statement I would like to make is that I believe the Porto School does exist. It exists as a space for permanent thinking on architectural teaching, always trying to find its own discourse on method. Thus it has been done, and continues to be, with the simplicity of those who fulfil their duty, not impairing thought nor overly theorizing. I state it not with pride, but realism! Following the interest expressed by some sectors of international criticism, rather than at the national level, in determining the defining parameters of an hypothetical style and the temporal boundaries in the development of this “school” (regarded in the sense of a “trend”), we gradually became aware that this title should mainly relate to a group of architects who recognize themselves, like it or not, through their own existence.