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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This paper analyses a domestic space designed amidst cultural tension in Portugal, within a context defined by nearly a quarter of a century of autarky by the 1950s. Striving for a reformed way of living, Carlos Tojal’s first home, ‘the burrow’, contrary to the endemic practices, comprised a modern ‘manifesto’, simultaneously functionalist and organicist. What were Tojal’s contributions, as architect and interior designer, in questioning modern living and the design culture of autarkic Portugal? Away from the nationalistic, historical and folkloric themes endorsed by the Dictatorship, his proposals aspire towards democracy and the practice of design as project, comprising the modern and its contradictions. The research, supported by historiographical-based methods, began with a heuristic process, through bibliographical research and inventory of sources from the studio’s collection, complemented by library and archive research, resulting in the current hermeneutical approach towards a prospective understanding of the works in question, leading to the research topics outlined.
Through hermeneutical interpretation, a design culture in which arts and crafts interact and complement each other emerges. In his first home - ‘the burrow’ -, the idea of a ‘lost paradise’ was reflected in the permeability of human and natural spaces, welcoming the informal and jovial environment.
Description
Keywords
Portuguese design culture Modernism Space and design
Citation
Antunes, Sandra & Souto, Maria Helena (2021). An Experience of Synthesis and Freedom: Space and Design in Portugal Post-World War II. In Vukić, Fedja & Kostešić, Iva (eds.) "Lessons to Learn? Past Design Experiences and Contemporary Design Practices”. ICDHS 2020 - 12th Conference of the International Committee for Design History and Design Studies –. Faculty of Architecture, School of Design, Croacia. Zagreb: UPI2M BOOKS, 2020. Proceedings. pp. 567-578.
Publisher
Institute for the Research of the Avant-Garde Zagreb