Ana Vaz Milheiro and Leonor Matos Silva present research on Lucio Costa at an international conference in Shanghai

The presentation, entitled “In the Shadow of Brasília: Mapping Tradition through the Archive of Lucio Costa”, forms part of TRACK II: Deploying Tradition in Practice Across Cultures and will take place on 26 June, from 3.30 pm to 5.30 pm (UTC+8), at the Xuhui campus of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

The work stems from research carried out for the exhibition and catalogue Lucio Costa Archive, curated by Ana Vaz Milheiro with the collaboration of Leonor Matos Silva. The presentation offers a critical immersion in the personal archive of the urban planner Lucio Costa, deposited in 2021 at the Casa da Arquitectura in Matosinhos.

Structured in three sections (Engaging with the Archive, The Relationship with Portugal and The Place of Oral History), the presentation addresses the tension between tradition and contemporaneity. Building on the idea of “in the shadow of Brasília”, the research proposes a critical reading of the cultural capital present in the archive, exploring the tensions between Costa’s monumental legacy and the more discreet narratives of everyday life.

Participation in this international conference marks a significant step in the global visibility of Portuguese research in architecture and urbanism, reinforcing the dialogue between cultures and practices around the concept of tradition.