Espinho: questioning the transformation of the territory and the place of habitation through audiovisual sources

Abstract

 With this paper we intend to present a systematic reading of the architectural transformations that characterized Espinho until the 1970s, through the application of methodologies for analyzing audiovisual sources. The objectives are to demonstrate these sources’ possibilities for the study of architecture, as well as to compare the various images of the territory over three decades with the reality shown by archive sources. We also seek to interrogate housing architecture’s place in the territory’s filmic depictions, as well as its role in the transformations that took place in the second half of the century. With the transformations of Espinho at the end of the 20th century and its progressive de-characterization, given its richness as documentary testimony of a constructed reality that is very dear to the History of Architecture in Portugal, based on the impact of the housing function, it is urgent to analyze the images preserved by these sources.