Last December 10-14, took place the 18th International Docomomo Conference in Santiago, Chile, under the theme “Modern Futures – Sustainable development and cultural diversity”, organized by Docomomo International and Docomomo Chile.
Highlight for Docomomo Portugal was its official approval as Docomomo working party at the Council Meeting on 12 December.
Portugal took part at the conference with several presentations by its members as well as chairing of sessions, namely:
Session:
– “Capturing time inside architecture” – Ana Tostões (Docomomo Portugal chair) and Marta Peixoto (Docomomo Brazil)
– “Adaptive modern housing:shifting notions of comfort and the transformation of domestic space for contemporary living” – Zara Ferreira (Docomomo Portugal Secretary-general)
– “How can exhibitions help creating a sustainable and responsible attitude towards the future?” – Bárbara Coutinho
– “Remapping Modernisms: Contemporary Debates” – Patrícia Santos Pedrosa, Ruth Verde Zein
– “Re-education for reuse of modern spaces. Social and environmental dimension as a platform for inclusive didactic and research” – Gonçalo Canto Moniz, Carolina Quiroga
Paper presentations:
– “Bridging cultural significance and risk assessment: compared analysis from Conservation Management Plans in Portugal and Cuba (1960-
1966)” – Teresa Cunha Ferreira, Davide Del Curto, Pedro Murilo de Freitas, Andrea Garzulino
– “Museum building as a living archive and a “time machine”. The case study of MUDE – Museu do Design, Lisbon” – Bárbara Coutinho
– “Memory,legacy and identity: modern heritage in Angola and Mozambique” – Ana Magalhães
– “New Old London: Modern Large-Scale Housing for the Traditional City” – Jaime Silva, Ana Tostões
– “Collaborative Redesign of Modern Schools: Rethinking Spaces of Coimbra Lyceum” – Gonçalo Canto Moniz, João Mendes Ribeiro, Carolina Coelho, Pedro Brígida, Duarte Miranda, Valentina Leal Gutierrez
– “Elizabeth Mock’s Curatorship at MoMA: a New Approach to Architecture and Architecture Exhibitions and its Echoes in Europe” – João Duarte, Maria João Soares
– “The Transcontinental Modernity in Ahmedabad: Contributions by Geeta and Gira Sarabhai” – Maria João Soares, João Duarte
– “Refiections on Minimum Space Living in Macau” – Niccolò Arnaldo Galliano, Ana Tostões
– “Take the heat: adapting modern public space to accommodate older adults’ needs” – Ana Martins, Gisela Lameira, Ana Silva Fernandes, Rui Ramos
– “Reclaiming the Outdoors: Challenges in Retrofit, Design for Ageing and Well-being in Modern Movement access galleries and walkways” –
Gisela Lameira, Luciana Rocha, Rui Ramos
– “Timeless quality in a social housing estate for all: the transformation of domestic space and lifestyles in Olivais Norte (1960s-2020s)” – Zara Ferreira, Ana Tostões
– “(Re)signifying and (re)designing modern school playgrounds. Experiments on collaborative design in Portugal” – Patrícia Lourenço, Alexandra Alegre, Teresa Heitor
The proceedings with all papers will be available open-access online from July 2025.
Also were launched at the conference the publications Modernist Women interior Designers and Artists, edited by Ana Tostões and Zara Ferreira and published by Docomomo Portugal / Docomomo ISC/ID and Modernism in Africa. The Architecture of Angola, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, edited by Uta Pottgiesser and Ana Tostões and published by Birkhäuser and Docomomo International.
Further it was announced that the 19th International Docomomo Conference will be held in Los Angeles, California, March 2026 under the theme Multiple Moderns: Climate, Community, Creativity, organized by Docomomo US. And that the 20th International Docomomo Conference for 2028 will be organized by Docomomo Greece, in partnership with Docomomo North Macedonia and Docomomo Bulgaria.