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Centre for Socioeconomic and Territorial Studies

RESEARCH THEMES

05

HISTORICAL AND 
POSTCOLONIAL PERSPECTIVES

Historical and post-colonial perspectives as cultural foundations for decoding the social production of space. Material and immaterial heritage underlies the debate on the ideological construction of the past.

RELATED PROJECTS
LabourMap-Macao

2025 — 2025

Mass labour impact on Public Works in Macau under Portuguese administration (1849-1999)

O lugar da Casa-Museu Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves

2024 — 2024

Levantamento documental, conceção e redação do discurso da exposição "O lugar da Casa-Museu Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves”: Casa-Museu Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves

NPN – Novo Portugal Novo

2024 — 2024

Portugal Novo Housing Scheme – Study

ERC-ArchLabour

2024 — 2029

Architecture, Colonialism and Labour. The role and legacy of mass labour in the design, planning and construction of Public Works in former African territories under Portuguese colonial rule

RETRANSLATES

2023 — 2025

Reflexiones, desde Europa, sobre la arquitectura en España: proyectos urbanos, equipamientos publicos, diseño e intervenciones en el patrimonio (1976-2006)

MHHPI

2023 — 2029

Beyond Modern Housing Heritage of Portuguese Influence, an Optimistic Architecture for Living. Comparative and Multi-Situated Perspectives on Modern Dwellings and Surroundings

WomArchStruggle

2023 — 2024

Women architects in former Portuguese colonial Africa: gender and struggle for professional recognition (1953-1985)

ExPORT

2023 — 2025

Exporting Portugal: Estado Novo cultural diplomacy and rebranding strategies in the United States (1933-1974)

UrbanoScenes

2022 — 2025

UrbanoScenes. Post-colonial imaginaries of urbanisation: A future-oriented investigation from Portugal and Angola

2021.02417.CEECINDL

2022 — 2028

Learning from the past: the importance of former housing participatory production for the coming years

SIZA

2021 — 2024

The Critical Monumentality of Álvaro Siza: Projects of urban renovation after the 1998 Lisbon World Exposition (Expo98)

ARCHWAR

2021 — 2024

Dominance and mass-violence through Housing and Architecture during colonial wars. The Portuguese case (Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Mozambique): colonial documentation and post-independence critical assessment

RELATED NEWS

News

Ana Vaz Milheiro receives Special Mention at the 2026 FORMA Awards

01/10/2026

DINÂMIA’CET-Iscte integrated researcher Ana Vaz Milheiro has received the Special Mention for Teaching and Research at the 2026 FORMA Awards.

Event

Lecture “The Construction History of Modern Rio de Janeiro (1921–1937)”

17/09/2026

On Monday, 21 September, at 10:00, the lecture “The Construction History of Modern Rio de Janeiro (1921–1937)”, will take place at CVTT – Iscte, Building 4, Room A104, in Lisbon.

The lecture will present research conducted by Professor Niuxa Drago and her team at the Laboratory of Narratives in Architecture (LANA), part of PROARQ at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).

Event

Doron Altaratz will discuss The Wall as Interface on 23 September

15/09/2026

DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte associate researcher Doron Altaratz will present a talk on the Wall as Interface.

A wall is not a neutral carrier of the marks left on it. It is an interface: it determines what a body can do to it, under whose authority, and what trace survives. This talk follows that claim across three sites and three kinds of surfaces: the physical wall, human traces, and the digital surrogate.

Media

Ana Vaz Milheiro on Público

15/09/2026

DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte researcher Ana Vaz Milheiro wrote about architect Fernão Lopes Simões Carvalho on the September 9th edition of Público newspaper.

News

Paulo Manta Pereira shortlisted for the Popular Preprints of the Decade Award

03/09/2026

"Raul Lino and The City", by DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte researcher Paulo Manta Pereira, published as a preprint in 2016, has been shortlisted for the Popular Preprints of the Decade Award. This paper, which was later published on Enq journal, focuses on architect Raul Lino's work, eleven case studies encompassing architectural projects, urbanistic plans and technical advice in the first half of the 20th century in Portugal.

Media

Ana Mehnert Pascoal on Sábado

29/07/2026

DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte researcher Ana Mehnert Pascoal featured in an interview in the latest issue of Sábado magazine. 

News

[NEW Abstract Deadline] Call for Papers: Contemporary Construction Sites as Postcolonial Infrastructure: Preliminary Inquiries

17/07/2026

The A+I Working Paper Series has opened a call for submissions for its fourth issue, edited by Guest Editor Nuno Tavares da Costa (Dinâmia'CET-Iscte). The abstract deadline (300 words) is 19 October 2026.


Event

Launch of "Research in Architecture at LNEC", authored by Patrícia Bento d'Almeida, Teresa Marat-Mendes, and Michel Toussaint

02/06/2026

DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte is pleased to invite to the launch of the publication on scientific research in architecture at LNEC, authored by Patrícia Bento d'Almeida (DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte), Teresa Marat-Mendes (DINÂMIA'CET-ISCTE), and Michel Toussaint.


This publication will be presented by Francisco Silva Dias and Helena Roseta, at Espaço Caleidoscópio / Quinta da Fonte do Anjo, on 9 June at 18:30.

Media

"New vision of Portuguese and Danish architecture and urbanism in India": an interview with Nuno Grancho by the Revista da Casa de Goa

14/05/2026

DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte researcher Nuno Grancho recently gave an interview to Óscar de Noronha for the Revista da Casa de Goa, following his recent selection as a Visiting Professor at Brown University for the 2026/27 academic year, where he will teach the curricular unit “Espaços de Contacto: Arquitectura, Colonialismo e Descolonização no Mundo de Língua Portuguesa” (Contact Spaces: Architecture, Colonialism and Decolonization in the Portuguese-Speaking World).

Event

Upcoming screening sessions of the documentary and presentation of the book Mulheres, Terra, Revolução, by Rita Calvário and Cecília Honório

13/06/2026

DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte is pleased to invite you to the upcoming screening sessions of the documentary and presentation of the book Mulheres, Terra, Revolução (Women, Land, Revolution), authored by Rita Calvário (DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte) and Cecília Honório (CHAM-NOVA FCSH).

Event

«Mulheres, Terra e Revolução» – Book presentation and documentary screening at Iscte

29/04/2026

DINÂMIA’CET-Iscte is pleased to invite you to the screening of the documentary and presentation of the book «Mulheres, Terra e Revolução» (Women, Land and Revolution), authored by Rita Calvário (DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte) and Cecília Honório (CHAM-NOVA FCSH).


The event will take place on 12 May 2026, between 6 pm and 8 pm, at Iscte, Building 4, Auditorium 302.

Event

Lucio Costa Archive: an exhibition curated by Ana Vaz Milheiro

16/04/2025

The exhibition Lucio Costa Archive draws on the personal collection of the renowned urban planner, which was donated by his family to the Casa da Arquitetura in 2021. Curated by Ana Vaz Milheiro in collaboration with Leonor Matos Silva (both researchers at DINÂMIA’CET-Iscte), Lucio Costa Archive opens on 18 April at Casa da Arquitetura, with a programme featuring two days of free activities, and will run until 13 September 2026.

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