http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41 Sat, 25 Apr 2026 01:14:38 GMT 2026-04-25T01:14:38Z http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41890 Title: Walking and drawing: Experimental pedagogies in architectural education at the university of Évora Authors: Salema, Sofia; Guilherme, Pedro Editors: Cirklová, J. Abstract: In an age of rapid digitization in architectural education, design studios are often dominated by computer modelling, standardized templates, and virtual simulations. This digital shift has brought efficiency and new capabilities, but it also risks detaching architectural learning from the tactile and contextual realities of place. In response, the architecture program at the University of Évora – a centre for the creation, transmission and dissemination of culture, science and art, which, through the combination of study, teaching and research, is integrated into the life of society – recentres embodied and situated design practices. Drawing from Donald Schön’s notion of the design studio as a locus of “reflection-in action”,1 our approach emphasizes learning through direct engagement with real environments. We posit walking, drawing, and redrawing as core methods for re-grounding architectural education in lived experience and critical reflection. Évora’s unique setting – a historic walled city surrounded by Alentejo landscapes – provides an ideal “living laboratory”2 for this approach, where students immerse themselves in the genius loci of place rather than solely in digital abstractions. By taking design learning back to the field and sketchbook, we aim to cultivate perceptive, contextually aware architects who can integrate the sensory and social dimensions of architecture with contemporary design challenges. This article elaborates on these pedagogical strategies as developed in the Design Studio and Urban Design units at Évora. It presents case studies of student work – such as Sylvie Claro’s walking-based exploration of Évora’s aqueduct, Gabriel Oliveira’s drawing-based inquiry into a riverine landscape, and Claudia Batista’s redrawing of Álvaro Siza’s sketchbooks – to illustrate how walking, drawing, and redrawing operate as tools of analysis, imagination and research. Through these examples, we reflect on themes of context, embodiment, time, and the pedagogical value of resisting the speed of purely digital design culture. By re-integrating slow, physical processes into architectural education, we argue for a richer, more critical mode of learning aligned with both local heritage and contemporary needs. This paper is structured to first describe the Évora context and studio framework, then delve into each core method and its theoretical underpinnings, and finally discuss the outcomes and broader implications of this experimental pedagogy. Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41890 2026-03-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41813 Title: Alto da Cruz (Mora, Portugal): um exemplo da diversidade e ritualidade megalítica. Authors: Rocha, Leonor; Alvim, Pedro Abstract: The group of menhirs of Alto da Cruz (Mora, Portugal) presents several exceptional characteristics which justify new lines of questioning, in regards to the diversity of the open megalithic monuments in the Alentejo and their chrono-cultural relations with funerary megalithism. The megalithic cruciform of Alto da Cruz was identified by the undersigned in August 2011 and archaeological work was carried out in 2012, which allowed the researchers to confirm its cruciform ground plan. In regards to the spatial composition of the group of menhirs and the possible connections to other nearby places, the particularly interesting relation with the Penedo das Almoinhas, the granite outcrop with rock paintings divulged by G. Zbysweski (Zbysweski et al., 1977a) in the 1970s, is noteworthy. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41813 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41812 Title: Territórios neolíticos no Alentejo Central (Portugal): Estratégias de implantação. Authors: Rocha, Leonor Abstract: The development, during the last two decades, of systematic archaeological surveys and excavations, related to measures for minimizing negative impacts as well as research projects, has allowed us to learn more about the territories preferred by the Neolithic populations in inland Alentejo, and thus to refute traditional theories put forward during the 1970s and the 1980s. The many habitat locations, identified as being part of the initial phases of the Neolithic period through the artefacts recovered, are located in areas with very specific geomorphologic characteristics. In this work, we present a summary of the available information about this region, while defining the main settlement areas and reflecting on their functional materiality and the issues related to their characterization. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41812 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41807 Title: Apresentação. Authors: Oliveira, Jorge; Rocha, Leonor; Almeida, Nelson Editors: Oliveira, Jorge; Rocha, Leonor; Almeida, Nelson Abstract: Trinta anos decorridos sobre a escavação, colagem e re-ereção do Menhir da Meada, o maior da Península ibérica e até ao momento o mais antigo do mundo (6º milénio aC), entendeu o Laboratório de Arqueologia da Universidade de Évora promover um encontro científico para o qual foram convidados todos os arqueólogos que desenvolveram ações semelhantes em monumentos megalíticos em Portugal, Espanha e França e investigadores das áreas da geologia e da química onde foram apresentados e discutidas as ações e metodologias de recuperação de monumentos préhistóricos de grande dimensão e respetivos resultados. Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41807 2026-03-01T00:00:00Z