Theses defended
Cultura e património urbanísticos de influência portuguesa na Ásia, 1503-1663
February 28, 2018
Heritages of Portuguese Influence
Walter Rossa
What is the process of urban definition on the cities built by the Portuguese presence in Asia, during 1503 and 1663? is the main question this thesis offers to answer, aiming to fulfill one of the persistent gaps in the theme of the Portuguese urbanistic universe: the full knowledge of the Asian link within the problematic of the Portuguese urbanism.
Between the establishment of the first urban core, Cochin, in 1503, and its surrender to the Dutch East Indian Company in 1663, the Portuguese installation in Asia, arising from the maritime Expansion, reached its peak. The intention is to analyze, within the urbanism disciplinary field, this installation phase, coincident with the urbanization process of the cores where the Portuguese presence settled and then extended to the surrounding territories. Cities heads of territories anchored on the ground the maritime network that served the Expansion enterprise and, mostly without a solution of continuity, embed materialities and communities in a long timespan, extendable to the present day.
The dimension that urbanized Asia involves in the study of urban planning, in particular, through the confrontation and acquaintanceship that happened in order to the Portuguese installation and permanence be possible, amplifies the understanding and the relations or disparities discourse between urban cultures and, thus, the scope of the Portuguese urban culture itself.
The affinities that contemporary communities have with the space they inhabit, see and feel, pass, likewise, through the understanding and evaluation not only of the present result, but also the processes that originated and transformed it. Because urban planning is a small section of the culture, that shapes and informs the identity of a community.
The remaining urbanistic register, and the one erased, meaning, the urbanistic heritage, as material heritage, language, gastronomy, religion, among others, has a direct application in subjects in which cultural and social contents are the key elements and in political decisions that manage the urban spaces and communities.
The search of these questions and the variety the objects presented imposed in the analysis scope a broader geographical horizon, determining, almost immediately, which urban cores would worth a deeper look. Cochin, Colombo, Malacca, Santhome of Mylapore and Macao are the objects that, forming themselves as an urban network with variants, better articulate the different regional frameworks in which there are the Asian urban networks where the Portuguese influence was exercised.
The variety also defined the strategy of analysis. To each case corresponds a morphological study of the urban programs and mesh, focused on how, on which conditions, by who and when the city was thought and built, and how from these matrices it evolved. Then, in the cases that required it, an analysis of the Portuguese interference in the surrounding territory is made. Alongside this process, history is drawn on an operational basis, which, like the text, is a tool for the interpretation and knowledge consolidation.
Finally, a confrontational reading between the objects aims to expose the types, the mechanisms of action, and the particularities that led the urban design, and the level of involvement in the territories. In brief, it informs the process of urbanistic definition, which opens the discussion to two areas that are closely linked to it: the urbanistics culture and heritage, both producers and products of processes.
Key words: urbanistic, urbanism, urbanistic heritage, urban morphology, territorial culture, Cochin, Colombo, Malacca, Santhome of Mylapore, Macao
Public Defence date
Doctoral Programme
Supervision
Abstract
Between the establishment of the first urban core, Cochin, in 1503, and its surrender to the Dutch East Indian Company in 1663, the Portuguese installation in Asia, arising from the maritime Expansion, reached its peak. The intention is to analyze, within the urbanism disciplinary field, this installation phase, coincident with the urbanization process of the cores where the Portuguese presence settled and then extended to the surrounding territories. Cities heads of territories anchored on the ground the maritime network that served the Expansion enterprise and, mostly without a solution of continuity, embed materialities and communities in a long timespan, extendable to the present day.
The dimension that urbanized Asia involves in the study of urban planning, in particular, through the confrontation and acquaintanceship that happened in order to the Portuguese installation and permanence be possible, amplifies the understanding and the relations or disparities discourse between urban cultures and, thus, the scope of the Portuguese urban culture itself.
The affinities that contemporary communities have with the space they inhabit, see and feel, pass, likewise, through the understanding and evaluation not only of the present result, but also the processes that originated and transformed it. Because urban planning is a small section of the culture, that shapes and informs the identity of a community.
The remaining urbanistic register, and the one erased, meaning, the urbanistic heritage, as material heritage, language, gastronomy, religion, among others, has a direct application in subjects in which cultural and social contents are the key elements and in political decisions that manage the urban spaces and communities.
The search of these questions and the variety the objects presented imposed in the analysis scope a broader geographical horizon, determining, almost immediately, which urban cores would worth a deeper look. Cochin, Colombo, Malacca, Santhome of Mylapore and Macao are the objects that, forming themselves as an urban network with variants, better articulate the different regional frameworks in which there are the Asian urban networks where the Portuguese influence was exercised.
The variety also defined the strategy of analysis. To each case corresponds a morphological study of the urban programs and mesh, focused on how, on which conditions, by who and when the city was thought and built, and how from these matrices it evolved. Then, in the cases that required it, an analysis of the Portuguese interference in the surrounding territory is made. Alongside this process, history is drawn on an operational basis, which, like the text, is a tool for the interpretation and knowledge consolidation.
Finally, a confrontational reading between the objects aims to expose the types, the mechanisms of action, and the particularities that led the urban design, and the level of involvement in the territories. In brief, it informs the process of urbanistic definition, which opens the discussion to two areas that are closely linked to it: the urbanistics culture and heritage, both producers and products of processes.
Key words: urbanistic, urbanism, urbanistic heritage, urban morphology, territorial culture, Cochin, Colombo, Malacca, Santhome of Mylapore, Macao