© ISCTE
Conference “Dos Museos Romanos” [“Two Roman Museums”]

Docomomo International is pleased to share the Conference Dos Museos Romanos [Two Roman Museums] by Rafael Moneo, in the context of the Conferences Cycle História nas Práticas do Presente [History in the Practices of the Present]. These series of sessions have been organized by Marta Sequeira and Eliana Sousa Santos from the ISCTE Department of Architecture and Urbanism, and are open to the entire academic community, but also to the general public.

In these sessions, it is aimed to reveal to a young audience the importance of historical research for an informed debate about contemporary times. These sessions were attended by historians Ricardo Lucas Branco and Ana Pagará, but also by architects João Luís Carrilho da Graça, Pedro Domingos and Gonçalo Byrne.

The next session will take place on April 22, 2021, at 2:30 pm (GMT+1), and has the participation of Rafael Moneo – awarded with the Pritzker Prize, the most important international architecture prize – who will give a conference entitled Dos Museos Romanos.

The conference will be given in Spanish. Assistance is free and can be done through the following link: https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/81194764770

Conference Synopsis
Rafael Moneo once wrote about the life of buildings: «change, continuous intervention, is the destiny, whether you like it or not, of architecture». Building on the built, building on an occupied place during the period of the Romanization of the Iberian Peninsula, was the challenge posed to Moneo when carrying out the projects of the National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida (1980-1986) and the Museum of the Roman Theater of Cartagena (2000-2008). While the first project originated from archaeological excavations carried out on a block, where everything archaeologists could expect – aqueducts, peristils of Roman houses, foundations of Renaissance courtyards, cisterns and even the remains of a primitive Christian church – was found. The second project originated from the discovery made during the demolition of some houses in the historic center, when, by mere chance, a precious testimony of romanization was found – a theater built during the reign of Augusto, with a capacity to accommodate about 7000 spectators. In both projects Rafael Moneo links the past to the present, establishing contacts and overlaps between them, finally making an eloquent demonstration of the instrumental role that History can play in the project act, particularly in the context of contemporary production.

Brief biography of the lecturer
Rafael Moneo was born in Tudela in 1937. He studied at the Technical School of Architecture in Madrid, having obtained the degree of Architect in 1961. During his training, he collaborated with Javier Sáenz de Oiza and, shortly after graduating, with Jørn Utzon. In 1963 he received a scholarship from the Academy of Spain in Rome, remaining in this city until 1965. In that year he began his activity in Madrid as an architect, as well as, in the following year, as a professor at the Technical School of Architecture in Madrid. He was professor at the Technical School of Architecture in Barcelona between 1970 and 1980 and at the Technical School of Architecture in Madrid between 1980 and 1985. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he taught at universities such as Princeton, Lausanne and Harvard. In 1985 he was appointed director of the School of Architecture at Harvard University, a position he held until 1990. At present, Rafael Moneo remains in this same school as the chairman of the Josep Lluís Sert chair. In addition to his activity as an architect and teacher, it should be added to what he has been developing as a lecturer and critic. His writings were published in the most outstanding magazines of the specialty, and the presentation of his work, through various exhibitions and conferences, took him to numerous institutions on both sides of the Atlantic. Rafael Moneo was awarded in 1996 with the Pritzker Prize, the most important international architecture prize.