Small is More

This book and the projects that it document and analyze,pretend to be the starting point for a reflection about the "quantified" space-sometimes perceived as really SMALL. In our world, Architecture became a media phenomenon, where the awesomeness and complexity of constructed forms is an objective to the endless quest for visibility. In these circumstances, architects prefer BIG spaces-they are more flexible,easier to manage,more spectacular and more desirable because,in general,larger in size corresponds to MORE visibility and to a higher status of projects. Moreover,it seems to be a direct connection in people's minds between the size of the buildings and their qualitative classification,and frequent being SMALL is seen as something that is outside "architecture" or at least out of its erudite aspects.The works that illustrate this work are SMALL,most of them built in Portugal. However,it seems that the issues they represent are universal.Hence we have opted for a bilingual edition-in Portuguese and English, with peer-to-peer text.The reader may find slight differences between the two idioms, wich is due to the purpose of clarifying the meaning of some parts of the text.

Autorentext

Phd in architecture from ETSA-Barcelona-Spain.Graduated in architecture from the FAUTL-Portugal. Coordinator and professor of the Architecture Program at Faculdade de Arquitectura e Artes, Universidade LusíadäLisbon. Head of the architectural studio Victor Neves- Arquitectura e Urbanismo, Lda, since 1985.