Paulo Providencia: Architecture as Poetics of Knowledge [signed]

A rich, generopus survey of Paulo Providencia's work on the 2007 renovation of the Church of São Salvador from the 1500s, blending contemporary elements with the historical architecture.

The book includes an extraordinary amount of drawings, plans and sections.

The Church of São Salvador is located in the parish of Figueiredo, in the municipality of Braga, Portugal. According to tradition, it was built in the late 16th century. The original structure was significantly altered in the 18th century, receiving a Baroque-style facade.

Resisting a time of fast visual consumption, Paulo Providência’s book Architecture as Poetics of Knowledge takes an in-depth, slow-paced approach to the restoration and extension of the parish church of São Salvador de Figueiredo, situated in the picturesque scenery north of Porto, Portugal. Revealing the several historical layers of the church, the intervention is illustrated by extensive graphic documentation, from on purpose drawings to a detailed photographic interpretation.

An essay by the author exposes the design process, methodological principles, references implicated in the conceptual approach to the architectural solution and the processes of negotiation with client and users, providing an invaluable interpretation of the project and testimony of the richness that architectural design can achieve.

Essays by architects such as Armando Rabaça, Bruno Gil (editors) and Eliana Sousa Santos offer critical readings of the intervention and situate the project within Paulo Providência’s previous work. Anthropologist Sandra Xavier and theologicien Rui Machado, provide a reading about the social construction of the intervention and the theological implications of the architectural options.

Paulo Providência is a Portuguese architect, graduated at Porto School of Architecture (1988). His architectural work reflects about the cultural implications of architecture, bringing architectural heritage discussions outside the institutions. Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Coimbra, he teaches Design Studio courses and has been Design Studio Invited Critic at several institutions.