Conference O Jardim de Epicuro e o Realismo da Nova Arquitetura Portuguesa

Location: Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon, Building 2, Auditorium B302

Date: 12 November 2025

Time: 3:00 PM

Admission: Free

As part of the PhD Programme in Architecture of Contemporary Metropolitan Territories, Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon is pleased to host the conference: O Jardim de Epicuro e o Realismo da Nova Arquitetura Portuguesa (The Garden of Epicurus and the Realism of the New Portuguese Architecture). The session will take place on 12 November 2025, at 3:00 PM, in Auditorium B302, Building 2.

The session will feature presentations by Jorge Figueira, Paula Melâneo, Pedro Baía and Francisco Ascenção.

In Portugal, the professional and academic debate surrounding the future direction of architecture has become particularly active, marked by the emergence of new studios that are exploring diverse paths of experimentation.

In 2024, the publication ‘Ceci n’est pas un Portrait’ sought to document a segment of these practices through the critical lens of Francisco Ascenção’s photography. The common denominator of photographic representation served as the foundation for collating houses, shelters, and installations, presented without any authorial reference. Details and the interplay of light emphasise a kind of 'dialogical realism' that characterises the published corpus of works, which were constructed under the contingency of specific sites, restrictive budgetary constraints, or the programme requirements themselves.

The detailed design of a roof's drainage, the junction of two structural elements, or the exploratory intensity of modest materialities are not limited to solving functional necessities. Instead, these elements question and subvert the pragmatism of the immediate response, thereby suggesting an ethical dimension that transcends the thematic impositions arising from systemic contingencies of globalisation.

In this era of collective excess and anxiety, architecture is seeking new foundations rooted in sharing and proximity, delineating places of encounter which, much like the 'Garden of Epicurus', can be viewed as clearings of serenity in the face of historical turbulence.