Between place and meaning

Decoding the Costa Júnior house (Leiria, Portugal)

Abstract

As an artistic expression, architecture conveys cultural drivers that communicate with the community in which it is located, and with which it may desire to stimulate reactions. At a time of strong political and social instability, architect Ernesto Korrodi adopted a Neoclassicist and traditionalist programme for designing the Costa Júnior house (Leiria, Portugal) in 1918, expressing ideals of republicanism and nationalism to the surrounding community. Therefore, the Costa Júnior house is explored in order to understand the process through which architecture transmits cultural drivers, which the local community receives, interprets and assimilates. Considering the architect, the ordering party and the historical context inherent to this project, this article analyses its architectural programme. Thereby, the dual nature of this dwelling is revealed, as both a calculated social construction and a space deliberately instrumentalised to express cultural drivers.