Ninth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

Built in 1420 –during the aftermath of the succession war with Castela and the arise of D. João I as King– the palace of the dukes of Bragança in Guimarães was intended to house the counts of Barcelos, later dukes of Bragança. Being the home of the dukes during the first period of the fifteenth century, it was slowly left to decay after the duchess’ death, resulting in its eventual abandonment in that century’s final years. Having met different usages and occupations since the sixteenth century, the palace was deeply intervened between the 1930s and the 1960s, as part of a larger and wider campaign undertaken by the National Board for Buildings and Monuments. This campaign contributed to the dictatorships rhetoric, which aimed to restore the country’s collective memory and national identity through interventions in selected buildings of historical significance. Being the original home of the last Portuguese dynasty –the Braganças– the Ducal Palace’s importance was undeniable. This presentation reports on the architectural design process that the Palace of the dukes of Bragança underwent in the twentieth century for its adaptation into a museum and the official residence in the north for the President of the Portuguese Republic. However, both the process and the intervention’s final design solution were extremely polemic and profoundly criticized, by the general population as well as experts. Nonetheless, new discoveries are arising regarding the original medieval construction, contributing to a refreshed contemporary understanding of the monument, in particular its mid-twentieth century architectural intervention.