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U.Porto Memory

University of Porto Famous Alumni

Octávio Lixa Filgueiras

Octávio Lixa Filgueiras 1922-1996 Architect, ethnographer and archaeologist

Octávio Lixa Filgueiras was born in Foz do Douro, in Porto, on 16 August 1922.

He completed the General Secondary Education in 1940 at the Alexandre Herculano High School, in Porto. He then attended the 1st year of the Preparatory Courses of Engineering at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto. In 1942, he asked to be transferred to the Architecture course at the Porto School of Fine Arts, which he completed in 1954 with full marks. His novel thesis entitled "Urbanismo: Um Tema Rural" [Urbanism: A Rural Topic] was the first theoretical-practical work ever presented at the ESBAP, thanks to the education reform at that school promoted by its Director, the architect Carlos Ramos (1897-1969).

In 1955, he won the competition for the position of Architect at the Directorate General for National Buildings and Monuments and published the first work on the boats of Douro. Between 1955 and 1957, he participated in the "Inquérito à Arquitectura Popular em Portugal" [A Survey on Popular Architecture in Portugal], carried out by six teams formed by architects such as Alfredo Viana de Lima, José Carlos Loureiro and Mário Bonito. Lixa Filgueiras led the team responsible for Zone II (Trás-os-Montes and Higher Douro), in which he worked with colleagues Arnaldo Araújo and Carlos Carvalho Dias. This important study was published in a book entitled "Arquitectura Popular em Portugal" [Popular Architecture in Portugal] in 1961, which came to influence significantly the next generations of professional architects.

He began teaching at ESBAP in 1962, and left in 1991. In 1967, he became a member of the 4th Subsection of the 2nd Section of the National Education Board (Architectural/Urban Heritage), a position he held until 1977.

Between 1970 and 1973, he was part of the Exchange Commission of the Institute for Advanced Culture, and later worked as an Inspector of Fine Arts and of the National Commission of the European Year of Architectural Heritage until 1976, when he coordinated the work entitled "Cidade Romana de Braga" [The Roman City of Braga] and the survey "Imóveis do Património a Recuperar" [Heritage Buildings to be Restored], at the National Board of Education.

Between 1978 and 1981, he joined the Office of the Secretary of State for Culture, at the time led by David Mourão-Ferreira, and was entrusted with training support to the future North Regional Delegation.

In 1981, he was sent to the History Centre of the University of Porto, where he remained until 1985. He then transferred as Full Professor to the Faculty of Architecture of Porto, where he was responsible for a seminar addressed to final year students on a topic very dear to him – the Protection of Architectural Heritage.
From 1985 to 1993, he was a member of the Advisory Board of the Portuguese Institute of Cultural Heritage.

He received a scholarship from the Institute for Advanced Culture to pursue studies in the field of Ethnology and Naval Archaeology at the Centre for Studies on Peninsular Ethnology; he conducted the survey on Portuguese traditional boats, one of his major works, but which was never published in full; he worked as a consultant at the Maritime Museu, where he helped found the Maritime History Study Group (1964); he was part of the Navy Studies Centre in 1970, and transferred in 1978 to the Naval Academy, joined the Work Group for the Defence of Underwater Architectural Heritage (1976-1984) and the Commission for the Improvement of the Sea-bed, part of the Department of the Chief of Defence Staff.

As a researcher and founding member, he participated in all the International Symposia on Boat & Ship Archeology. He organized the 4th Symposium (1985) on "Local boats", giving conferences in Porto, Aveiro and Lisbon.

He was the mentor of underwater archaeology, which he supported in Portugal for thirty years. His contribution in this area was significant, both as the Portuguese delegate at the EU Council of Ministers Meeting on the defense of Underwater Cultural Archaeology (Paris, 1979) and in the Work Group responsible for drafting the European Convention in Strasbourg, 1980-1985). He became a member of the Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaelogy and a founding member of the cultural association Arqueonáutica – Centro de Estudos, where he helped write the Livro Branco – Arqueologia ou Caça do Tesouro? Para um debate sobre a legislação do património arqueológico subaquático em Portugal, [a debate on the underwater archaeology heritage in Portugal]. The civic movement associated to this theme, which involved researchers like Francisco Alves, Carlos Carvalho and Óscar Fangueiro, among others, helped to change the laws in the 1990s, thus benefitting the commercial exploitation of the underwater cultural heritage of Portugal. The message he conveyed alerted towards the need to safeguard the Portuguese maritime heritage, a cause which he never failed to defend.

He died in Porto on 11 March 1996.

To his colleagues, like the underwater archaeologist Francisco Alves (director of the National Centre of Maritime and Underwater Archaeology), "Fil", as he was known to his friends and students, was a learned man who loved ships, to which he dedicated a considerable part of his life. He was also dedicated to knowledge, and left the most important personal archive on maritime culture known to date to the Maritime Museum of Ílhavo.
(Universidade Digital / Gestão de Informação, 2008)