01.10.2019

A conversation with Arch. Paulo Tormenta Pinto

01.10.2019

A conversation with Arch. Paulo Tormenta Pinto

‘We are concerned with the‘ invariables’ of architecture, a search for solutions without time that lead us to a more anonymous role, without that meaning loss of disciplinary scholarship’

In addition to your PhD, you are a Researcher at the Center for Studies on Socioeconomic Change and Territory and a teacher at ISCTE. Tell us about your journey.

I finished my bachelor’s degree in 1993. Two years later, I had the opportunity to obtain the master’s degree La Cultura de La Metropolis, in Barcelona, ​​coordinated by Ignasi de Solà-Morales, a very prestigious course. It was an incredible opportunity to see Barcelona after the investments for the 1992 Olympic Games. I completed my master’s degree in 1996. In 2000 I returned to Barcelona to do my PhD, which I discussed in 2004. This academic investment was almost always linked to my activity as a professor and architect, as I have had regular professional activity since 1994. Research projects result from this process: from curiosity about themes and subjects that seem relevant at a given moment. At this moment, I coordinate as a responsible researcher, at DINÂMIA / CET-IUL, the project: “Grandes Trabalhos – Operações Arquitectónicas e Urbanísticas depois da Exposição Mundial de Lisboa de 1998” [eng.: “Great Works – Architectural and Urban Operations after the 1998 World Exhibition in Lisbon”].

What practical advice do you give your students about current architecture practice? Is the legislation adequate?

Architecture opens doors to a fascinating world. It is an instrument for reading and decoding space and time and also for operating on change, in the present moment. Whatever the scenario, or contemporaneity, Architecture always has tools to assert itself, allowing architects to participate in the various conjunctural contexts – whether it be the lack of housing, the environment, the requalification of public space, or the experimentation of old and new technology. For that matter, legislation is always seen as one more condition. The most recurring struggles and demands of architects around professional regulation must not be forgotten, which implies the work’s valorization, the inversion of regulatory dispersion, or the recognition of the economic and social gains of the architects’ work. The best advice that can be given to anyone who wants to be an architect is to encourage seriousness and professional commitment, curiosity and a taste for architectural culture.

You were an architect for the Housing Construction Department of the Lisbon City Council and work on social housing. Is this social aspect always present in your proposals?

Architecture is always a social activity. Naturally, regarding social housing programs, this aspect is emphasized with greater visibility, since we are working on the resolution of fundamental rights, enshrined in the Constitution. Work concerning social housing requires an approach with limited resources, implying very objective solutions and with great resilience, since usually maintenance resources are scarce. There is a great Aquitanian culture around social housing programs in Portugal, where contemporary masters have established themselves internationally with this kind of program. Such as arch.: Siza Vieira, Vítor Figueiredo or Gonçalo Byrne.

In 2004 you have created Domitianus in Lisbon with the arch. Rosa Maria Bastos. Why associate an architecture studio with a bookstore specialized in conservation and restoration?

Rosa had just arrived from Rome where she had studied conservation and restoration, at La Spienza, with professor Giorgio Croci. We thought that the architecture studio could unfold on a pertinent theme not widely spoken in 2004. The bookstore didn’t resist the arrival of large bookstores, but the two-year period in which the two aspects of Domitianus cohabited was very interesting and we participated in meetings dedicated to the themes of conservation and restoration, in parallel with the studio’s projects.

Tell us about your architectural style.

Stylistic awareness is always a difficult process for architects, who normally allow themselves to be pragmatically entangled with the programs they have to solve. As far as we are concerned, there is a recurring concern with the ‘invariables’ of architecture: a search for solutions without time, which send architects to a more anonymous role, without this implying a loss of disciplinary knowledge. There is always a desire to anchor new projects to Aquitanian culture. These assumptions, possibly result in a stripped architecture that is read as clean and clear, which is something we like.

Your work has been referenced in specialty publications and you’ve developed some awarded projects. How do you see these recognitions?

Recognition is a stimulus to continue. Above all, it allows you to maintain a dialogue with peers. It also makes it possible to make balances perceiving the way projects are received. When a work is recognized, or rewarded, we believe that our assumptions were understood outside the cocoon we work in and that is something that makes us more confident.

This interview is an integral part of Revista Artes & Letras # 112, October 2019
Partially automatic translation from portuguese: some expressions may differ from their actual meaning.

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