A expressão formal da ética e política em obras de Álvaro Siza e Paulo Mendes da Rocha - Percurso de uma investigação.

Abstract

The architect, first of all, has values which govern his behavior, both as citizen and as a professional. This dissertation focuses on the ethical and political values of the architect and how these values can be reflected in his work. The architectural process incorporates the thought as an idea and intention in an increasingly conscious fashion. A work constructed without thought isn't Architecture because this one results from a conceptual process that allows the building to be an appropriate outcome of the architect's intentions. Architecture is not only about providing mankind with shelter. When this one began to create societies and the polis formed the political power to rule them, Architecture also gained a new expression: let us recall the great temples as marks of the religious power or the royal palaces linked to the prevailing power. Architecture can transmit, through the form, the ethical and political values of a society, or the architect that represents it. It was, in other times, more closely linked to the several forms of power. From the twentieth century, and with the Modern Movement, Architecture began to incorporate social issues under its main concerns. Several groups and social movements were created in defense of Architecture in an uncompromised, fair and equitable way. The dissertation describes a journey of research on the ethical and political conduct of two architects, Álvaro Siza and Paulo Mendes da Rocha which may have formal expression in their projects. The design of buildings arises from an architectonic process that includes a thought guided by their values. In the transaction to the Architecture, there is an attempt to identify architectonic actions/forms reflecting these values. However, not everything is so explicit, but a closer look can unveil this enclosure. This is more one of the challenges of Architecture: to transmit through the form and values. As architects or citizens it is up to each one of us to interpret them and heed its intentionality.