Seminar L.ENA 69
A reading of the National Meeting of Architects 1969: "Stage of a journey"
May 27th, 2010, CES Seminar Room, 2nd Floor, Coimbra
Presentation
The National Meeting of Architects of 1969 (ENA1969) took place in Lisbon, between December 6th and 8th, 1969, at the end of a year when legislative elections – promoted by the regime – lead the Portuguese people from illusion to disappointment with Marcelismo. The discussion of Portuguese society’s problems throughout the period preceding the elections approached fundamental subjects to Portuguese architectural discussion since the end of World War II, namely territorial development, cities and housing: suggested by a group of architects, independent from the National Trade Union, ENA1969 aimed at reflecting on this class’s contribution to this new environment.
Working groups, self-organized during the year of 1969, suggested and discussed the five topics of the debate: “Unionism”, “Land Politics”, “The impact of current structures of Portuguese society on the architect’s activity and its intervention on those structures”, “Popular participation and the architect’s work in urban development” and “Communication as protest” (the first topic included a sixth one: “Architecture and bureaucracy”). For some people, this may also have been the “Meeting”, a moment of disappointment, due to both the assembly’s inability to approve “Conclusions” and the perception of an until then irrelevant division between professionals – employers and employees. For other people, it was a moment of major importance to architecture since it defined the return of political discussion to the profession and was the turning point to other means of action.
Forty years after ENA1969, this Seminar suggests an interpretation of what happened then and its consequences through a set of lectures with different approaches to the subject, organized in three sessions and a round table.
Programme
09.30 Seminar Opening and Presentation
Pedro Hespanha, President of CES Scientific Board and José António Bandeirinha
Session 1: Spain and Portugal, Architecture at the end of dictatorships
Coordination: Mário Krüger (DARQ/FCTUC/CES)
09.45 Architecture ideas in a culture of opposition - Antonio Pizza (ETSAB)
10.15 Ruptures and convergences - José António Bandeirinha (DARQ/FCTUC/CES)
Session 2: Context, Architecture and Society during the transition 1960-1970
Coordination: Domingos Tavares (FAUP/DARQ)
11.00 Portuguese architecture during the transition between 1960’s and 1970’s - Jorge Figueira (DARQ/FCTUC/CES)
11.30 Portugal during the transition between 1960’ and 1970’s - Rui Bebiano (FLUC/CES)
12.00 1969: Illusions and disappointments in election years - Miguel Cardina (CES)
Lunch Break
Session 3: The Meeting, actors and action
Coordination Alexandre Alves Costa (FAUP/DARQ)
14.30 Crisis at architecture schools: 1968-69 - Gonçalo Canto Moniz (DARQ/FCTUC/CES)
15.00 ENA: Becoming aware of society - João Afonso (FAUP)
15.30 Tourism: Forgotten territory at ENA 69? - Susana Lobo (DARQ) and Ana Tostões (OA/IST)
Round table
Coordination Ana Tostões (OA/IST)
16.15 Testimonials of Francisco Silva Dias, Manuel Nicolau Brandão, Manuel Vicente and Raul Hestnes Ferreira.
17.30 End
Organisation:
Architecture and Urbanism Research Group and comparative Cultural Studies Research Group of the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra
Sponsor: Order of Architects
Coordinator: José António Bandeirinha
Sponsor: Foundation for Science and Technology
Credits for the purposes of Admission into the Order of Architects