Nuno Portas, Hestnes Ferreira, Conceição Silva: Sobressaltos em Lisboa, anos 1960

In the 1960s Portuguese architecture became involved in various conflicting experiments. Nuno Portas, Hestnes Ferreira and Conceição Silva demonstrated that the architectural project did not result from doctrine, and that architectural culture was becoming increasingly complex. Portas broke with the Beaux Arts tradition, which in Portugal meant also modern architecture, in the name of skilled and systematic analysis; Hestnes Ferreira incorporated a poeticised history into modern architecture, following the path opened up by Louis Kahn, with whom he worked; and Conceição Silva developed a permeable and inclusive relationship with the market, which would became common practice in architecture from the 1980s onwards. The “scientific” response, “poetic” requirements and “business/art” dialogue which these three experiments respectively denote, are still models for today’s Portuguese architecture