Presentation
Summary

The CONVENTUS project, "New Perspectives on the Convent of São José Building in Lagoa" aims to present new, inclusive, and diverse perspectives on the former Convent of São José building in Lagoa, Algarve, Portugal. To achieve this, it applies a diachronic approach to the study of its history, architecture, urban impact, and social interactions over more than three centuries of existence, prioritizing the use of participatory methodologies that will actively engage the local population.

Founded as a religious house for women, this building has hosted various functions following its secularization—including a primary school, the Lagoa parish, a station of the National Republican Guard, the Civil Registry Office, the Lagoa Parish Council, and several municipal services. Since 1993, it has been operating as a Cultural Center.

The recent transformations in the functional dynamics of this building have made it necessary to rethink its potential and actively promote its sociocultural values and its importance within the local community, reinforcing its role as a driver of integrated and inclusive sociocultural development.

In response to this need, the CONVENTUS project will conduct an integrated investigation of the building, addressing its various material and immaterial dimensions (historical, architectural, urban, social, cultural, and heritage-related) from its foundation to the present day. This research will lay the groundwork for the future development of a museological plan for the building.

 

The research develops along three lines:

Line 1 is dedicated to studying the history, architectural transformations, and urban impacts of the building, using qualitative analysis methodologies guided by a hermeneutic perspective of critique and interpretation of bibliographic and documentary sources (including cartographic, iconographic, and photographic sources) collected from a variety of national, regional, and local archives.

Line 2 focuses on collecting historiographical data through biographical research, aiming to bring to light different layers of meaning at the micro-history level through the active, direct, and regular participation of the local community. This will be achieved using qualitative participatory methodologies that involve the community at every stage of the project.

Line 3 aims to create an active, multifaceted, and multidirectional cultural network, establishing contact points with other buildings of a similar nature at local, regional, national, and transnational levels, fostering synergies between these buildings through the communities that inhabit and engage with them.

The project is supported by a multidisciplinary team that brings together diverse expertise and experience, including a wide range of researchers and municipal technical staff from various fields (architecture, history, art history, museology, sociology, and heritage studies). It will also count on the participation of the local community, actively and democratically applying the citizen science concept to delve into the micro-history of the site.

Objectives
  • Contribute to the theoretical and methodological knowledge on long-term diachronic approaches in the study of architecture and its historical, cultural, urban, and social interactions.
     
  • Experiment with, evaluate, and produce knowledge about participatory methodologies and practices in the field of cultural heritage.
     
  • Produce scientific content about the history and current reality of the former Convent of São José building in Lagoa, focusing on its specificities, values, uses, and functions over time.
     
  • Define the foundations for the development of a museological plan and a museographic programme with a participatory character, nature, and structure for the Cultural Centre.
     
  • Organize a set of activities and dissemination products of knowledge and tangible and intangible cultural heritage associated with the building, co-produced with the local population.
Lead Researchers

Catarina Almeida Marado and Lorena Sancho Querol

Funding Entity

Município de Lagoa

Proposing Institution

Centro de Estudos Sociais, Universidade de Coimbra

Partner Institution

Centro de Estudos em Arqueologia, Artes e Ciências do Património, polo da Universidade do Algarve (CEAACP-UAlg)

Period

October 16, 2023 to November 2, 2025

Duration

24 months

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