Entre o Vernacular e o Contemporâneo. Um Projeto em Miranda do Douro

Abstract

This dissertation examines Portuguese vernacular architecture as a reference for contemporary architectural practice. Drawing on the debate surrounding the "Portuguese house" and the Surveys of Portuguese Vernacular Architecture carried out in the midtwentieth century, it discusses the notion of a "third way" as a design attitude that rejects both the imitation of tradition and an uncritical break with the past. The research focuses on the study of vernacular architecture from Trás-os-Montes and on the analysis of works by Fernando Távora, Eduardo Souto de Moura, and José Lobo Almeida. These case studies make it possible to understand different approaches to intervention in existing buildings, grounded in a critical selection of what is preserved and what is transformed. The work ends with a project in Miranda do Douro, where these reflections are applied to a contemporary proposal, trying to show that tradition can inform design without becoming a formal model.