António A. Aurélio. Colégio de Porto de Mós

Abstract

'António A. Aurélio. Colégio de Porto de Mós' focuses on an architectural work built in the 1960s, taken as a basis for studying the architectural practice of the author of its project. António A. Aurélio (1931-1987) was a Portuguese architect with a short career in architecture. Born in Alcobaça and a graduate of the Porto School of Fine Arts, he began his practice in the mid-1950s. He worked in Alcobaça and later in Lisbon, the cities where most of his projects are located. He also took part in competitions in Portugal and Spain in the 1960s. In 1975, he emigrated to Brazil, where he died aged 56. As well as architecture, he also dedicated himself to painting, photography and cinema. The Colégio de Porto de Mós building is understood as his masterpiece. The study of this project is structured around its various spaces, in a fragmented analysis that allows for a critical essay on the original project. Links are also made with other projects by the same author and his peers. Alongside this analysis, a series of 'notes for a project' are defined to inform a possible project to renovate the building. In the absence of a definitive programme for the future occupation of the building, a theoretical position is constructed that allows for the abstract design of an extension to the existing building. The architectural practice of António A. Aurélio is still in need of in-depth study, which this dissertation is intended to initiate. By organising the drawings left by the architect, the aim is to establish his design activity and contribute to its dissemination and the protection of the few works he built.