Abstract
This article challenges the common assumption of the fascist nature of the Portuguese Estado Novo from the thirties to mid-forties, while recognizing the innovative, modernizing dynamic of much of its state architecture. It takes into account the prolix discourse of Oliveira Salazar, the head of government, as well as Duarte Pacheco’s extensive activity as minister of Public Works, and the positions and projects of the architects themselves. It also considers the allegedly peripheral status of architectural elites, and the role played by decision makers, whether politicians or bureaucrats, in the intricate process of architectural renewal. The article shows that a non-radical form of nationalism has always prevailed as a discourse in which to express the unique Portuguese spirit, that of a people that saw itself as transporting Christian morality and faith across the world, a civilizing role that the country continued to fulfil in its overseas colonies. Taking the architectural legacy of the Estado Novo in its complexity leads to the conclusion that, while the dictatorship did not dismiss modernization outright, and though it adopted what could be superficially considered fascist traits, the language of national resurgence disseminated by the Portuguese regime did not express a future-oriented fascist ideology of radical rebirth. The country’s futural orientation would be accomplished by adopting a restrained policy of moderate modernization that lacked the dynamism and utopian ambition of fascism, a conservatism reflected in its architecture.
Highlights
This article challenges the common assumption of the fascist nature of the Portuguese Estado Novo from the thirties to mid-forties, while recognizing the innovative, modernizing dynamic of much of its state architecture
The article shows that a non-radical form of nationalism has always prevailed as a discourse in which to express the unique Portuguese spirit, that of a people that saw itself as transporting Christian morality and faith across the world, a civilizing role that the country continued to fulfil in its overseas colonies
This article aims to contribute to the debate on the nature of interwar dictatorships and, more precisely, to ascertain whether the apparent embrace of fascism by the Portuguese Estado Novo [New State], from its inception in 1932 up to the aftermath of the Second World War, was an authentic one, reflected in the radicalness and innovation of state architecture
Summary
This article aims to contribute to the debate on the nature of interwar dictatorships and, more precisely, to ascertain whether the apparent embrace of fascism by the Portuguese Estado Novo [New State], from its inception in 1932 up to the aftermath of the Second World War, was an authentic one, reflected in the radicalness and innovation of state architecture Was it a genuine variant of generic fascism or was it rather a simple emulation of the externals of fascist revolutionary regimes, and in the context of new buildings, prepared to adopt elements of Italian Fascism and Nazism[1] without any commitment to a veritable 'national revolution'? What makes them unique is their capacity to go beyond instilling fear, belligerence, fascism 7 (2018) 141-174
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