A formação social do arquitecto: Crise nos cursos de arquitectura, 1968‑1969

Abstract

The 1957 regulations for the reform of the teaching of architecture initiated a process of successive changes in everyday practices in architecture courses that would culminate in a crisis in 1969. During the decade in which it was in force, the new system proposed by the reform proved incapable of introducing new teaching methods or democratising the way in which the schools were run, and remained bound by the authoritarianism of the Ministry of Education. However, its academic and administrative rigidity encouraged teachers and students to develop strategies, involving both planning and reflection and debate, aimed at promoting the social function of the architect as a professional concerned with the problems of society and the city, as opposed to the technocratic architect.In 1968 and 1969 the architecture schools in Lisbon and Oporto, like the university and society in general, politicised their discourse. Students and teachers openly called for major changes in school management, teaching methods and educational objectives, demanding a reform of the 1957 Reform.This text explores the critical moments in this process of growing political and social awareness amongst students, who sought to reposition the role of the school in the debate on training and the profession of the architect. At the end of 1969, the architecture schools were in crisis because both the university and the profession itself were in crisis.

Keywords

• architecture
• academic crisis
• architecture education
• student movements