The Spirit of the Place: Challenges for the Design Education in Portugal in XXI Century

Abstract

To date, there has been little reflection on Design Education in Portugal. Especially after the revolution of 25 April 1974 and later Portugal’s entry into the European Union, there was a proliferation of higher education courses in Design, in university and polytechnic education, public and private. We are aware that bridging the fields of design and education allows the construction of a social perspective, centered on the formulation of design principles and their contribution to educational practices, with a focus of design on finding solutions to problems that mediate learning, highlighting the social role of design on issues related to needs, from a sociologically localized perspective and with the development of knowledge associated with students’ formation process. This leads us to a reflection on the potentialities that naturally emanate from the “spirit of the place” where a certain training in design develops, which is different from the “culture of the place”, in a clear articulation with the local cultural identity. Cultural identity, besides the sense of self, provides a global significance of local knowledge and community. If we address globalization in its deeper sense, in terms of science, technology, social or even economic development, we verify that it promotes cultural identity. This work focuses on the discovery of interconnections between the teaching of Design and the educational institutions in which this education takes place, trying to value the identity of the place, its culture, in a holistic view that highlights its differences and qualities that contribute to make each institution unique and owning a specific expertise. The research was supported by a methodology of literature review crossing and interpreting fundamental authors and theories, articulated with the author’s experience and direct observation. We arrived to the conclusion that each higher education school of Design in Portugal must implement a serious reflection on its role in the specific area of study and in the region, leading to value the ‘spirit of the place’ which is different from the ‘culture of place’. To define the spirit of the place contribute and interact countless variables such as the physical place (geographic and architectural), the provided environment (interior space, rooms, laboratories, equipment), the curricular grids seen as a whole of training, the teachers who teach in the institution at a given time, the developed group synergies, the articulation with the environment, with the local society and their needs and desires, the contribution to the local and regional development of the institution as a whole, among others.