Margarida Tavares da Conceição | Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas - Universidade Nova de Lisboa (original) (raw)

Journal issue: co-editor by Margarida Tavares da Conceição

Revista de História da Arte 13, 2018

Coordenação científica com Renata Araujo, Cidade (in)defesa. Defence(less) city, nº 13 da Revista... more Coordenação científica com Renata Araujo, Cidade (in)defesa. Defence(less) city, nº 13 da Revista de História da Arte, Instituto de História da Arte da Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas (ISSN 1646-1762).

Published Papers by Margarida Tavares da Conceição

RIHA Journal, 2022

Artistically gifted courtier Francisco de Holanda (1517/1518-1584) left several manuscripts, cont... more Artistically gifted courtier Francisco de Holanda (1517/1518-1584) left several manuscripts, containing both texts and drawings, in a quantity and of a consistency rarely seen in sixteenth-century Portugal. Holanda's contributions to architectural knowledge are well known among scholars, yet their relevance has not been fully acknowledged. Some obstacles need to be overcome: a one-sided disciplinary approach, a disproportionate focus on the influence of treatises, and the seductive pull of an eccentric personality. Beyond the debate on his contribution to artistic practice or even to the idea of classical antiquity, his achievements had a bearing on Portuguese culture in a wider and more complex sense than has previously been discussed.

The First World Empire: Portugal, War and Military Revolution, ed. Hélder Carvalhal, André Murteira e Roger Lee de Jesus, 34-50. London: Routledge, 2021

The general question that this book poses, about whether we can see the applicability of the conc... more The general question that this book poses, about whether we can see the applicability of the concept of Military Revolution to Portugal and its empire during the modern period, is not easy to answer. It is more than likely that the question may not have a direct or single answer.
This essay aims to reflect on to what extent the transformations, which took place in modern fortification, had an impact in Portugal. The question contains an apparent paradox. On the one hand, the presence of modern fortifications within the framework of the Portuguese empire is undeniable. As is the role attributed to these structures, both from a strictly military and from a symbolic point of view. On the other hand, this coexists with a background reading which places Portugal in a peripheral position within the context of the major transformations which took place in this field throughout the Modern Age.
This text argues that, within the area of fortification, the Portuguese were undoubtedly modern. They would even have participated in the initial steps which led to this modernity, and in this sense it is coherent to associate them with the revolutionary process of change itself. The text follows the successive phases in which the measures taken by the Crown aimed above all to guarantee continuous aggiornamento and achieve critical mass in this matter. That process was consolidated after the Restoration, in 1640, but it had started prior to that.

Opvs Incertvm, Construction Techniques and Writings on Architecture in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe, ed. by Caterina Cardamone and Pieter Martens, Dec 2020

Lime masonry and earthwork construction are subjects treated in the earliest written sources rela... more Lime masonry and earthwork construction are subjects treated in the earliest written sources related to fortification in the Portuguese empire. Although these texts are not in the form of an architectural treatise, they do evince a noteworthy concern with construction techniques. A group of administrative records related to Mazagan (1541) provide us with a first-hand account regarding new methods of building a fortress, and reveal that good lime, considered more reliable than earth filling for the new ramparts, was difficult to obtain. Another source is an anonymous manuscript from around 1579, written by a fortificateur playing the role of the architect. Going beyond Vitruvian guidance, the author merges several sources with his own observations. A significant part of his text is devoted to construction techniques, including earthworks, and discusses new materials using new words that are sometimes hard to translate. Both cases show a pragmatic approach and a preference for time-tested knowledge and practical experimentation.

Atlas Almirante Reis, 2020

1 Lisboa, Avenida Almirante Reis, vista sul-norte, 1945. CML, AML, PT/AMLSB/POR/052561. l i m i t... more 1 Lisboa, Avenida Almirante Reis, vista sul-norte, 1945. CML, AML, PT/AMLSB/POR/052561. l i m i t e ( c o m o c o n s t r u i r ) u m a av e n i d a l i m i t e

History of Cartography Volume 4: Cartography in the European Enlightenment, ed. Mathew H. Edney & Mary Sponberg Pedley, pp. 1595-1598. The University of Chicago Press, 2019

História da Arquitectura. Perspectivas temáticas, coord. M.J. Moreira da Rocha. Porto: CITCEM, 2018

A fortificação moderna não se resume à arquitectura abaluartada, mas adquiriu através do processo... more A fortificação moderna não se resume à arquitectura abaluartada, mas adquiriu através do processo de formação desta nova tipologia uma abrangência quase global. Envolveu na sua concepção pressupostos comuns à arquitectura dita civil e a emergência das figuras profissionais do arquitecto e do engenheiro militar comungam da mesma base conceptual e metodológica. Tais mudanças são identificáveis no panorama português e nas extensões coloniais, integrando a relação recorrente entre práticas de experimentação, importação e recriação de dados novos, que se inserem nos ciclos europeus. A actuação dos engenheiros militares é visível tanto na escala da organização do território, como na adaptação do espaço urbano preexistente aos conteúdos funcionais da praça de guerra, aí se incluindo o desenho dos equipamentos militares.

Monumentos 34, Direcção Geral do Património Cultural, 2016

Co-autoria: Rita Vale. No contexto do inventário de conjuntos urbanos do Sistema de Informação pa... more Co-autoria: Rita Vale. No contexto do inventário de conjuntos urbanos do Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico explorou-se um método de inventário para grandes aglomerados urbanos, apoiando essa experiência na realidade da cidade de Lisboa e na identificação do seu património urbanístico. A abordagem à totalidade do aglomerado, para além do seu núcleo antigo e das áreas ditas históricas, envolveu o tratamento conjugado de duas principais questões, mantendo o recurso a uma base de dados georreferenciada. Por um lado, o problema da extensão efectiva da cidade definida por via do perímetro legal, implicando uma operação coerente mas flexível de divisão e classificação das áreas urbanas. Por outro lado, o problema da complexidade e densidade dos tecidos urbanos, obrigando à sistematização dos traços essenciais que unem as diferentes áreas, portanto, ao reconhecimento dos elementos de agregação que sustentam a estrutura urbana. Apoiada numa análise morfológica minimamente padronizada, a grelha de leitura proposta será adaptável ao inventário de outros aglomerados urbanos.

Genius Loci. Lugares e significados. Places and Meanings, coord. Lúcia Rosas, Ana Cristina Sousa e Hugo Barreira. Porto: CITCEM, 2017

O acampamento militar foi entendido explicitamente como simulacro urbano pelo menos desde as Hist... more O acampamento militar foi entendido explicitamente como simulacro urbano pelo menos desde as Historiae de Políbio, uma das principais fontes antigas. Os procedimentos para o alojamento dos exércitos constituíam matéria usual nos livros de arte militar, tendo sido alvo de interesse renovado na cultura arquitectónica do Renascimento. No contexto do século XVII e em particular na formação dos engenheiros militares, cujo ensino organizado em Portugal não é perceptível antes de 1647, incluiu-se ainda a castrametatio como objecto de estudo nos seus con-tornos clássicos. Através da análise do Tratado de Castramentasão ou Alojamento dos Exercitos, de Luís Serrão Pimentel, procura-se relacionar a genealogia deste conhecimento castrense com o potencial exercício de habilitação para o desenho urbano.
The military camp was explicitly understood as an urban simulacrum, at least since Polybius's Historiae, one of the main ancient sources. Procedures for army's lodgings were usual topics in military art books, having known renewed interest in the Renaissance architectural culture. In 17th century context, specially in the military engineers training (whose organized teaching in Portugal is not clear before 1647), the castrametatio was still studied in its classical outlines. e analysis of the Treatise on Castrametation or Armies Lodging, by Luís Serrão Pimentel, seeks to relate the genealogy of this military knowledge with the potential qualiication for exercise on urban design.

Pensar a História da Arte. Estudos de Homenagem a José-Augusto França, coord. Pedro Flor. Lisboa: Esfera do Caos, 2016

A identificação e interpretação de modo sistemático e historiograficamente actualizado dos textos... more A identificação e interpretação de modo sistemático e historiograficamente actualizado dos textos da engenharia militar portuguesa constituem tarefas ainda incompletas. Desde logo, sendo questionável se o conjunto de textos conhecido forma um corpus teórico ou se é principalmente um corpus didáctico, destinado à formação dos engenheiros. Um aspecto apenas nítido a partir de meados do século XVII, no contexto da Aula de Fortificação e, com outros contornos, na composição de uma rede de aprendizagem profissional, ainda por conhecer no detalhe e no seu condicionamento internacional.
Se, por um lado, o arco cronológico legível neste âmbito é amplo, por outro, o leque sub-temático dos textos que lhe são associáveis é também alargado e necessita de algumas clarificações, constituindo esta uma questão essencial. Os textos da engenharia militar, e em especial no que se refere ao entendimento de uma presença urbanística conceptualizada, não se resumem à figura do tratado de fortificação, principal instrumento da formação dos engenheiros.
Mais do que uma catalogação tipológica, será importante manter presentes tanto o fundamento (matemático), quanto a diversidade das matérias estudadas pelos engenheiros militares (pré)modernos. Nesse sentido cruzam-se pelos menos três linhas temáticas — arquitectura, geometria, arte militar — alicerçadas do ponto de vista literário nos autores clássicos e cujo nexo urbanístico reside na ligação profunda entre a cosmografia, a gromática e a castrametação, revelando uma visão territorial inerente à engenharia militar. Do trabalho até agora desenvolvido é possível reconhecer traços em textos fragmentários e heterogéneos, dispersos mais ou menos entre 1540 e 1640, que corporizam essas ligações e abrem outras perspectivas de investigação sobre a cultura arquitectónica e urbanística dos engenheiros militares e personagens concorrentes.

Les mots de la guerre dans l’Europe de la Renaissance, dir. Marie Madeleine Fontaine et Jean-Louis Fournel, 2015

On a cherché à systématiser ici quelques données déjà connues de l’historiographie afin de saisir... more On a cherché à systématiser ici quelques données déjà connues de l’historiographie afin de saisir l’ordre d’apparition du vocabulaire de la fortification moderne dans le monde portugais de la Renaissance et d’identifier les expressions et mots spécifiques nouveaux, utilisés par les acteurs impliqués dans ce processus de mutation du langage militaire: le roi et les ingénieurs, architectes, militaires, fonctionnaires, quel que soit le degré d’imprécision des titres professionnels. L’analyse se fonde sur plusieurs sortes de sources: les documents de l’administration des chantiers royaux, des livres et textes élaborés dans le contexte de la cour avec des objectifs théoriques, et quelques collections de dessins exécutés dans un cadre précis (Duarte de Armas et Francisco de Holanda). Les limites chronologiques ont été établies à partir de l’apparition de quelques mots propres à l’architecture militaire adaptée à l’artillerie de feu, et du recrutement plus généralisé d’ingénieurs italiens, sur une période de cent ans. Le processus coïncide avec l’expérimentation endogène au monde des pratiques de construction et le poids décisif, mais non exclusif, des contacts avec l’univers italien. A leur tour, les textes à portée théorique destinés à la formation des hommes de cour démontrent un processus d’apprentissage et d’élaboration d’un langage militaire moderne concomitant, dont les limites ne sont pas spécifiques à l’ingénierie mais impliquent à la fois les mathématicens, les militaires et les érudits, catégories formées et éduquées selon la culture lettrée de la Renaissance.

The military language of Portuguese engineers and builders of fortifications (circa 1480-1580).
We have attempted to systematize some already familiar historiographical data to enhance our understanding of the order of appearance of modern fortification vocabulary in the Portuguese world during the Renaissance, and to identifiy specific new expressions and words used by key participants in the process by which military langage evolved: the king, engineers, architects, soldiers and functionaries, however imprecise professional titles were at that time. Our analysis is based on several type of sources: documents relating to the administration of royal construction works; books and texts produced in the context of the court with theoretical objectives; and a few collections of drawings executed in a particular framework (Duarte de Armas and Francisco de Holanda). The timeframe we have established is based on the appearance of some words specific to military architecture relating to ordnance, and the more generalized recruitment of Italian engineers over a hundred year period. The process coincides with experimentation that took place outside the realm of constuction, and decisive, but not exclusive, contacts with the Italian sphere. In turn, theoretical texts designed to train courtiers demonstrate a process by which modern military language was learned and elaborated, whose scope is not specific to engineering but involve mathematicians, military men and scholars, categories trained and educated according to the lettered culture of Renaissance.

Rossio-Estudos de Lisboa, 5, 178-199, 2015

No tempo longo pré-contemporâneo o entendimento dos limites urbanos pressupõe a ideia de muro ou ... more No tempo longo pré-contemporâneo o entendimento dos limites urbanos pressupõe a ideia de muro ou muralha. O perímetro fortificado, para além da sua materialidade, pode ser lido enquanto limite político-administrativo que consagra a existência de uma jurisdição urbana. Em Lisboa, se essa leitura é válida para as estruturas medievais, torna-se ainda mais evidente no que se refere à cintura abaluartada seiscentista, dando lugar no século XIX à primeira Circunvalação. Essa linha circunscreve actualmente a área central da cidade, identificando-se ainda vestígios materiais desse perímetro construído.

The early modern fortification and the ring road (notes on urban limits in Lisbon) |
In the Early Modern long time the notion of city limits relied on the idea of fence or wall. The fortified perimeter, beyond its materiality, can be read as a political-administrative boundary which establishes the existence of an urban jurisdiction. In Lisbon, if this interpretation is valid for medieval structures, it becomes even more obvious in relation to the seventeenth bastioned fortifications, resulting in the nineteenth century first ring road. This line, currently limiting the central area of the city, can still be recognized along with some material remains from this built perimeter.

Pedro Nunes is usually associated with the theory of classicist architecture in Portugal, mostly ... more Pedro Nunes is usually associated with the theory of classicist architecture in Portugal, mostly as a result of his declared intention to translate Vitruvius, but over the course of his long career other important theoretical connections between his mathematical procedures and architectural knowledge emerged as well. Although he was famous as a scholar and tutor of princes, his work as a cosmographer shows his indirect contribution to architectural knowledge. More specifically, his teachings on the sphere and use of surveying instruments for measuring spatial coordinates in navigation provide important indications of the link with architecture. These aspects are also demonstrated in his scientific works, such as the Treatise on the Sphere and the Book of Algebra in Geometry and Arithmetic. Though doubts persist as to his direct relationship with the Vitruvian tradition, there is evidence of knowledge shared between the disciplines, particularly the use of the sundial or nautical needle for orientation and the organization of space.

Território: documentos, imagens e representações. IV Simpósio Luso-Brasileiro de Cartografia Histórica. Actas, 2011

The designs of military engineer Miguel Luís Jacob and war garrison cartography in the 18th cent... more The designs of military engineer Miguel Luís Jacob
and war garrison cartography in the 18th century | Miguel Luís Jacob (c. 1710 – 1771), who was trained by the Portuguese school of military architecture and will certainly have been affected by the reforms introduced by chief engineer Manuel Azevedo Fortes (1660-1749), fits the profile of the resident engineer, present at fortification sites for decades. Indeed, he left behind numerous designs, which reveal a clear geographic focus (on the regions of the Alentejo and Beira), a great diversity of scales and characteristics, and an exceptional technical and aesthetic skill.
The maps and plans may be divided into two broad groups, one relating to the Alentejo and the other to Almeida in Beira, which include surveys of the garrison and the surrounding lands. One of his best-known designs shows how the urban space was affected after a particularly violent bout of war, while another group of designs documents the repair and renovation of the fortifications and other military facilities and buildings. All in all, this collection shows how architectural designs moulded the obligatory ground plan/cross-section/vertical projection model in accordance with scales with some homogeneity.
Throughout this cartographic collection, Miguel Luís Jacob reveals the skill and breadth of knowledge required of the fully-operational military engineer in the mid 18th century. There are general topographic representations with descriptive depictions of landscape features adjacent to the garrison, technical or codified representations of the urban centre and its defences, and rigorous architectural representations, executed with considerable artistic virtuosity. One aspect that is highlighted by this collection is the connection between the various scales of representation of space, linking military and topographical cartography, urban cartography, and architectural surveying and planning.

Monumentos 32, 2011

O entendimento das características do núcleo urbano da cidade de Bragança torna indispensável uma... more O entendimento das características do núcleo urbano da cidade de Bragança torna indispensável uma reflexão a partir do seu contexto territorial, uma fronteira de grande lastro e espessura. O modo como esta cidade do extremo nordeste do território português foi representada através dos desenhos da engenharia militar, é o principal objectivo deste texto. Esta intenção não dispensou, porém, um caminho retrospectivo até à primeira representação desenhada de uma ideia de fronteira ou extremo, através dos nunca demasiado estudados desenhos feitos por Duarte de Armas por volta da primeira década do século XVI. A partir da prévia existência de um inventário mais ou estabilizado de peças cartográficas militares e/ou urbanas, procurou-se compreender e fixar as linhas ou elementos que permitiram, durante num intervalo cultural e cronológico de dois séculos, classificar e nomear a cidade de Bragança através do seu estatuto urbano e militar de praça de guerra moderna, uma condição cuja visibilidade é agora quase nenhuma.

Ist International Meeting EAHN, 2010

When “three places of learning architecture” were established in 1594, employing as master the It... more When “three places of learning architecture” were established in 1594, employing as master the Italian Filippo Terzi, the monarchy did not intend to create an academy, but to control the architectural practice. This institutional teaching was a way of training professionals, articulating the traditional apprenticeship with the study of architectural textbooks, which would reveal some difficulties and contradictions. The starting point was the workshop system, organizing the learning process based on the actual design of royal buildings. However, this architectural practise regulation did not mean learning on the building site anymore; it rather meant learning by designing indoors. On the other hand, the literary education, more scholar-like than theoretical and rather secondary, does not allow a straight connection between theory and practice.
This training structure long duration, being extinguished only around 1750, should be underlined, such as the activity of a large number of architects, even raising family dynasties. Their activity was not restricted to the royal civil architectural tasks, often dealing with engineering problems and military technical expertise. Another significant issue was the apprentices’ obligation to listen to the geometry lecture given by the royal chief cosmographer, who was also teaching the nautical pilots. Finally, the architectural lesson, conceived as a theoretical complement, preserves its own evidence in two mains documents: the taccuino left by Terzi and the treatise read by the master Mateus do Couto the Elder. Between the vitruvian authority and the albertian principles, this unfinished textbook retains mainly words, almost protecting a spoken kind of design knowledge, without a real drawing model postulate.

Universo Urbanístico Português, 1415-1822, Actas do Colóquio Internacional, 2001

Manoel de Azevedo Fortes (1660-1749). Cartografia, cultura e urbanismo, 2006

Barroco Iberoamericano. Territorio, Arte, Espacio y Sociedad (Actas del III Congreso Internacional), 2001

Sob vários pontos de vista, e pensando até a sua função estritamente militar, a praça de guerra p... more Sob vários pontos de vista, e pensando até a sua função estritamente militar, a praça de guerra pode ser entendida como manifestação da cultura e da mentalidade barrocas. Como modelo teórico, e mesmo considerando somente o seu fundamento tratadístico, quer na produção europeia, quer na manualística portuguesa, a praça de guerra começa por ser uma unidade operativa inserida numa hierarquia de âmbito territorial, constituindo sem dúvida um ícone representativo que resume a força do braço militar do Estado Moderno. Ainda enquanto intenção ou projecto, com um desenho mais ou menos sofisticado, experimentando uma geometria mais ou menos complexa, pontuando sempre a linha de fronteira nas representações cartográficas, a praça de guerra é, desde logo, uma afirmação da lógica castrense do poder político nos séculos XVII e XVIII. O investimento na formação dos técnicos militares que asseguram esta engenharia é testemunho seguro de uma tal preocupação. Quando construída e equipada no terreno, a praça de guerra adquire uma realidade material e percepcional, cujo significado é também inequívoco. Independentemente da sua maior ou menor operacionalidade militar, constitui o símbolo monumental da pertença de um território a determinado poder. Sintetiza, por definição própria, o palco do teatro de guerra, onde se inscrevem igualmente alguns traços estilísticos indelevelmente barrocos na sua concepção. Uma tal intencionalidade retórica ainda é mais perceptível num terceiro nível de análise, o da vivência dos espaços. O vasto catálogo de exercícios militares, como as paradas, as fanfarras, o toques dos metais ou o rufar dos tambores, compõem rituais quotidianos que invadem o espaço urbano e transformam a arquitectura utilitária ou de equipamento em boca de cena. Um caso exemplar — e que servirá de base à análise a desenvolver no texto — é o Quartel de Infantaria da Praça de Almeida, projecto da provável responsabilidade do próprio engenheiro-mor do reino, Manuel de Azevedo Fortes. Esse sentido é especialmente visível quando o quartel foi utilizado como suporte para o cenário desenhado por João Bernardo Real da Fonseca, também um engenheiro militar, durante as festas realizadas em 1760 para a comemoração do casamento entre a Princesa do Brasil D. Maria (futura D. Maria I) e o Infante D. Pedro. O General Manuel Freire de Andrade, então governador da praça, publicou um minucioso relato das festas, nas quais o "ensaio militar ou ataque e defesa duma praça simulada", que encerrou esta celebração militar, reflecte claramente a natureza barroca da praça de guerra.

Revista de História da Arte 13, 2018

RIHA Journal, 2022

The First World Empire: Portugal, War and Military Revolution, ed. Hélder Carvalhal, André Murteira e Roger Lee de Jesus, 34-50. London: Routledge, 2021

Opvs Incertvm, Construction Techniques and Writings on Architecture in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe, ed. by Caterina Cardamone and Pieter Martens, Dec 2020

Atlas Almirante Reis, 2020

History of Cartography Volume 4: Cartography in the European Enlightenment, ed. Mathew H. Edney & Mary Sponberg Pedley, pp. 1595-1598. The University of Chicago Press, 2019

História da Arquitectura. Perspectivas temáticas, coord. M.J. Moreira da Rocha. Porto: CITCEM, 2018

Monumentos 34, Direcção Geral do Património Cultural, 2016

Genius Loci. Lugares e significados. Places and Meanings, coord. Lúcia Rosas, Ana Cristina Sousa e Hugo Barreira. Porto: CITCEM, 2017

Pensar a História da Arte. Estudos de Homenagem a José-Augusto França, coord. Pedro Flor. Lisboa: Esfera do Caos, 2016

Les mots de la guerre dans l’Europe de la Renaissance, dir. Marie Madeleine Fontaine et Jean-Louis Fournel, 2015

Rossio-Estudos de Lisboa, 5, 178-199, 2015

Território: documentos, imagens e representações. IV Simpósio Luso-Brasileiro de Cartografia Histórica. Actas, 2011

Monumentos 32, 2011

Ist International Meeting EAHN, 2010

Universo Urbanístico Português, 1415-1822, Actas do Colóquio Internacional, 2001

Manoel de Azevedo Fortes (1660-1749). Cartografia, cultura e urbanismo, 2006

Barroco Iberoamericano. Territorio, Arte, Espacio y Sociedad (Actas del III Congreso Internacional), 2001

Atlas Almirante Reis, Lisboa: Tinta da China, 2020

Atlas Almirante Reis 5 Prefácio «[…] dizia Ray Bradbury (em A Cidade Fantástica) que muitas comun... more Atlas Almirante Reis 5 Prefácio «[…] dizia Ray Bradbury (em A Cidade Fantástica) que muitas comunidades aparentemente banais podem ser, afinal, caleidoscópios fascinantes de destinos humanos.» (João Sei xas e António B. Gut erres, O pulsar político de um eixo dorsal, apud Atlas Almirante Reis) «[…] nunca se deve confundir a cidade com o discurso que a descreve, e contudo entre eles há relação.» (Italo Calvino, cit. por Marluci Menezes, Os mundos de uma avenida em Lisboa: todos parte do mesmo retrato, apud Atlas Almirante Reis)

10th International Conference on Urban History. City and Society in European History

It may seem that the theme of the fortified city in classical architectural treatises has already... more It may seem that the theme of the fortified city in classical architectural treatises has already been studied to exhaustion. However, new interpretations may be found if account is taken of aspects generally considered to be secondary. Research conducted into the origins of fortification treatises, focusing strictly upon the connection between the city and its fortifications, and examining a considerable number of texts, found a network of connections between various disciplinary areas that showed up important links, shedding new light on certain aspects of the question.
A particularly fruitful approach involved a re-reading of one of the most celebrated treatises in the history of architecture, the foundational text De re aedificatoria, by Leon Battista Alberti (c. 1450, editio princeps 1485). Much cited with regard to the (equivocal) subject of the ideal city, Alberti’s conception was flexible and erudite, going beyond the famous metaphor of the city as a large house and the house as a small city. In fact, his city was a fundamentally political entity – the civitas, community, place of civilization – and this is the aspect of his town planning that has usually been highlighted by commentators.
But the research described here focuses instead upon what Alberti wrote about the bond between a city and its fortifications, a connection that has generally been overlooked by historiographical studies of this architect, usually considered to be more concerned with civil matters. Indeed, the question of defence is dealt with somewhat perfunctorily in this work, which is why it has often been disregarded. However, what this treatise reveals are powerful connections to an ancient pool of knowledge about urban design.
Thus, this paper is concerned with the connections between two main aspects: firstly, Alberti’s rejection of the enclosed urban model, as related to his political and social conception of the city; secondly, his awareness, as humanist and scholar, of the existence of an ancient pool of knowledge, according to which the demarcation and materiality of the urban limit is present at its very origin, that is, at the moment of founding. In fact, Alberti offers a modern interpretation of this subject, considering the founding of the Vitruvian city from a historical perspective.
Hence, he explains how to interpret the tradition contained in Vitruvius’ text De architectura, and, referring to Etruscan rituals, explains how the foundation of a city was essentially rooted in the operation of delimiting a space (ritually, materially and in terms of its jurisdiction, etc). But, paradoxically, when the theme of castrametatio (which Vitruvius excluded) is considered within the broad spectrum of architecture, certain similarities emerge with his urban analogy. The military encampment is perceived as a mobile city, and this identification makes explicit the fact that the city can dispense with the wall, but not with the limit or the order. Thus, the wall constitutes a foundational limit.
In fact, the theme of wall and city, centre and limit, is an ancient one – perhaps even archetypal – and contains within it the source of its own paradox. That is to say, the limit is transformed into a boundary, whose very existence only makes sense in opposition to the gate, the point of opening and crossing. A city that is totally impermeable will cease to be viable, as it cannot survive permanently under siege. Hence, the city as civitas does not easily coexist with militia. This was the harsh reality that was revealed in the fortifications and treatises produced between the 15th and 18th centuries – the city reduced to a kind of military encampment. It will not have been by chance, therefore, that, from the beginning of the 19th century, defences, to be effective, had to cover the territory as a whole. Cities gradually lost their walls, which now extended far beyond.

Learning Places, 2021

Call for Papers is now open for Learning Places, TechNetEMPIRE International Conference that will... more Call for Papers is now open for Learning Places, TechNetEMPIRE International Conference that will be held in a hybrid format, in Lisbon and Zoom, between 3-4 February 2022.

This event aims at tackling the possibility of a comparative view on how, when and where learning institutions of technical and scientific knowledge were organized across empires. By comparing different case studies in fields of knowledge and transformation of the built environment - military engineering, cartography, among others - the goal is to establish a comparative frame of the political-scientific enterprise of empires, across geographies and times.
The conference proposes a comparative reading between formal or non-formal structures of learning and individual agency abilities, that enables the understanding of transformations, influences and entanglements in different geographies from multiple spheres of knowledge and practices.

Since the dawn of civilization cities had to deal with war effects through destruction, violence ... more Since the dawn of civilization cities had to deal with war effects through destruction, violence and fear. The deep change in artillery after the 14-15 th centuries produced new impacts on the urban network and urban environment, far beyond architectural and technical transformations in warfare. In fact urban history, architectural history, military history and archaeology are correlated in this matter. Cities and their surrounding fields were affected by material destruction, which got more devastating as the caliber of firearms increased. How did cities recover after attack or war disaster, is the main question of this session.

Cidade (in)defesa. Defense(less) city will be the special subject of next issue of the Revista de... more Cidade (in)defesa. Defense(less) city will be the special subject of next issue of the Revista de História da Arte from IHA-FCSH-NOVA.

Proposals are welcome until 30 April 2011.
Accepted languages: Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian.
Articles will be submitted to double blind peer review and should follow RHA editorial guidelines available on the IHA website:
https://institutodehistoriadaarte.wordpress.com/publications/rha/

Arquitectura, Urbanismo e Património da Época Moderna — Colóquio dedicado a José Eduardo Horta Co... more Arquitectura, Urbanismo e Património da Época Moderna — Colóquio dedicado a José Eduardo Horta Correia. Lisboa, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 4-5 Abril 2024. Livro de Resumos. Organização: Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Instituto de História da Arte, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas / IN2PAST Laboratório Associado) e Universidade do Algarve (Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais).

Learning Places, TechNetEmpire International Conference, 2022

Co-organizer, with Alice Santiago Faria, Renata Araújo, Antonieta Reis Leite, Mafalda Batista Pac... more Co-organizer, with Alice Santiago Faria, Renata Araújo, Antonieta Reis Leite, Mafalda Batista Pacheco and Sandra M.G. Pinto, 3-4 February 2022.
This event aims at tackling the possibility of a comparative view on how, when and where learning institutions of technical and scientific knowledge were organized across empires. By comparing different case studies in fields of knowledge and transformation of the built environment - military engineering, cartography, among others - the goal is to establish a comparative frame of the political-scientific enterprise of empires, across geographies and times. The conference proposes a comparative reading between formal or non-formal structures of learning and individual agency abilities, that enables the understanding of transformations, influences and entanglements in different geographies from multiple spheres of knowledge and practices.

Workshop Arquitectura Chã: da (in)utilidade de um conceito, 2015

Co-organizadora, com Joana Cunha Leal e Nuno Senos do Workshop Arquitectura Chã: da (in)utilidade... more Co-organizadora, com Joana Cunha Leal e Nuno Senos do Workshop Arquitectura Chã: da (in)utilidade de um conceito, IHA e CHAM, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 22 Junho 2015