«The image we have of the architects and architects of this country is extremely positive and the proof of this are the numerous national and international awards that the country has received and that make us so proud». The words are from Francisco Martins, president of the Chamber of Lagoa, at the opening session of the 15th Congress of Architects, which began yesterday at the Centro de Congressos do Arade, in Parchal.
The mayor also stressed that «bringing this Congress here is important for Lagoa and is important for the region». But for what the Sul Informação could observe, the only regional responsible present at the opening was João Fernandes, president of the Algarve Tourism Region.
For his part, José Manuel Pedreirinho, president of the National Board of the Order of Architects (OA), underlined the general theme of this Congress, “Architectural and Landscape Heritage”, motivated by the fact that 2018 is the European Year of Cultural Heritage.
The official stressed that what is intended is “to debate heritage in a broad concept of what we understand and what has been the approach to built heritage, but also to landscape heritage”.
For that, he recalled, the OA promoted "during this last year several debates on the proposals of a National Policy for Architecture and Landscape". They are proposals “where the political dimension joins the necessary global understanding of an Architecture that can only be understood in the landscape and a landscape that is always built with architecture as well”.
In other words, "an understanding that intervention in the territory must be made of complementarities and professional knowledge that are beyond the limits of our profession," he added.
Also for this reason, the Congress reserved "an expanded space for the participation of the Portuguese Association of Landscape Architects", to "be present in a debate and collaboration that we hope will be more intense and closer, and, certainly, will not be limited to this Congress".
The inaugural session of the magna meeting of architects was chaired by Célia Ramos, Secretary of State for Spatial Planning and Nature Conservation. The government official spoke mainly about the contribution of the National Program for Spatial Planning Policy (PNPOT), but warned: "maybe we need 40 or 50 years to reverse any phenomenon that has happened so far."
Before a very composed auditorium, where many young architects, but also some deans of the profession, were pontificating, the speeches given were unanimous: the emerging and necessary reflection on Architectural and Landscape Heritage, the central theme chosen for the meeting, must take into account its role of architects as a guarantor of qualified interventions, both in the built heritage and in the landscape heritage, and it is a debate that does not end with the Architect's activity and that should be extended to other sectors of society.
The 15th Congress of Architects proposes, until tomorrow, Saturday, to address the various issues and problems of the architect's mission in society, in the future of heritage and in economic and social development.
The Fundación Docomomo Ibérico and the International Council of Portuguese Language Architects are among the various guests at the Congress, and work meetings of the two international organizations are planned for the 26th of October.
Tomorrow, the last day, at 15:30 pm, the OA promotes the conference “Rehabilitation of Heritage in the Algarve, Case study: Conservation, rehabilitation and enhancement of the walls of Lagos”, also with free entry, which has as speakers the architects Frederico Mendes Paula and José Aguiar.
In parallel, there are three exhibitions that document the evolution of OA by revisiting the cultural, professional and political events of this institution, as well as a fair of materials, at the Centro de Congressos do Arade.
Also within the scope of the Congress, the Order of Architects will hold, today and tomorrow, 26th and 27th of October, guided visits to some exemplary sites of the Algarve's heritage.
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