SHARE.EAAD #30 Martinho Kutaya | Modern Architecture in Luanda: Reflections on the Portuguese Colonial Legacy, Sustainability and Cultural Identity

 

After colonization and the end of the prolonged civil war (1975-2002), the city of Luanda still has a mass of buildings that can be identified as colonial production, and therefore belonging to the “modernist” style. The figure of Vasco Vieira da Costa as an influential architect of Modernism in Luanda is preponderant, his works covering a variety of programs and typologies, from “The Satellite Towns to the Quinaxixe Market”, allowing us to study the influence of the Modern Movement on Luanda’s society, and in a deductive view, to discuss the impact of colonialism on the built environment and the creation of racial differences in urban and architectural spaces. In the context of trying to recognize the buildings of the Modern Movement in Luanda as architectural heritage, the question arises: what is “heritage” from the perspective of those (people) who have been colonized?

 

Biography
Martinho António Kutaya (1997), architect and researcher, focusing on “Modern Architecture, Colonial Studies and Heritage Preservation in Luanda”. With a master’s degree in Architecture from the University of Beira Interior, he stood out as a former INAGBE merit scholar (2017-2022). Currently a PhD candidate at the University of Minho, his research focuses on the intersection between architecture and culture in Luanda. Recognized with the Best Student of the Year Award (2022), he demonstrates continuous commitment to practice, shortlisted in Young Talent Architecture Award competitions and the Archiprix, Museum of Emotion. He has collaborated on heritage restoration projects at aNC Arquitectos (2020 and 2022), and is currently working with Koncreto Arquitetura Design & Construção.

 

Online via Zoom (ID 939 4141 0079)

+ info: https://shareeaad.cargo.site/30-Martinho-Kutaya-info

 

 

Promoted by SHARE. EAAD – Lab2PT/UMinho, EAAD/UMinho

 

 

Image: montage by author