Mário Martins

The days of Mário Martins, an architect for more than 30 years, are long. They start early and end late. But nothing stops him from living his passion for architecture to the full. He divides his time between his studios in the Algarve and in Lisbon. He tries to stay abreast of all the projects and in direct contact with his clients, «even though many of them are outside Portugal». He has the support of his vast architectural and engineering team for whom he has « a great deal of appreciation and trust». A variety of projects have already passed through his hands, from developments to detached private homes. And he has one wish. Mário would like to one day design a church or a temple, regardless of the religion, «because of the symbolism and the desire to design something of a spiritual and unknown dimension». He likes what he does. And what little free time he has, he spends with his family, enjoying simple things and thinking, because he feels «a constant desire to learn». He finds it difficult to define the limit between work and leisure, because, «perhaps, without wanting to, I’m always thinking about architecture. In this way, is architecture a profession or a way of life?» We don’t know. But, as Mário says: «don’t forget Niemeyer, when he said that "life is more important than architecture”.»

You have a degree in architecture. Since you first started your profession, what has the challenge been like up to the present day?
Since I graduated in architecture, and after brief experiences in other studios, I have been working on projects that I have created. It has been more than 30 years of ongoing and intense activity, with a considerable amount of work constructed. When I graduated, the world of «architecture» projects was dominated by engineers, draftsmen and other curious people. Architects had a small share of these projects. They said architects were expensive, annoying and stubborn. So, for anyone who wanted to do architecture, it wasn’t easy to make a start in that context; they had to overcome other obstacles. Even so, I’m not complaining. Difficulties make us stronger. Although our work today is increasingly recognised, it was not always appreciated that much, neither by people, entities nor the media, which reacted more negatively to a contemporary and refined architecture. At the time, I was sad and hurt. Today, I accept and understand the difference of opinions and that there is a certain resistance to what is new. In fact, it has always been like that. The velhos do Restelo [Camões’ much-cited ‘pessimists’] are part of our history. 

Many of your projects are in the Algarve, where you come from. We are talking about one of the country’s regions where luxury real estate is most prominent. How challenging has it been to develop projects on this scale?
I work for different market segments, but also for different scales and sites. But, in a natural way, opportunities have come up to work in several developments and detached private houses, where we have been given the conditions to carry out quality projects, done with rigour and great dedication, which should be normal in our profession. In detached private residence projects, the greatest challenge is to satisfy our clients and their expectations, the greatest of which is to make their dreams come true. It is a very personalised process, which involves a vast work team and the direct involvement of the client, from the first conversation to the end of the work. The client ends up becoming part of the project team and normally does so with great satisfaction and enthusiasm. At the end of the work, I always feel a mixture of pride and dissatisfaction... being left with the feeling that something could be improved. It is that innocent and incessant search for perfection that makes us believe and work passionately to create better places and make people happier. But the best of all is when, after construction, we see that sparkle in our clients’ eyes, which tells us the sincerity of their appreciation for our work and gives us peace of mind, because we are moving our architecture into a new phase: to be lived in. They will continue the process, adjusting to the building and adjusting the building to themselves. So that they live and age well. Them and the building. And in that way, our work made sense.

Looking at the current real estate and construction market, can you identify which region will have the greatest potential for growth in Portugal in the coming years?
The regions with the greatest potential for growth are the ones that are already growing the most. Growth attracts more growth, leading to greater asymmetries. This growth will put pressure on the most attractive areas on the coast and, consequently, will cause a desertification of the remaining regions. This will cause serious problems in land-use planning and resource management.
We need development, not growth. Development in a balanced way, in time and space, with respect for places and people. Which is unlikely to happen without there being a strategy, a direction, a purpose for the medium and long term. This has to come from those who decide. And what happens is that those who govern us and have governed us do it in a random, disjointed and simplistic way to solve political and electoral agendas.
For example, while using local accommodation as a scapegoat, the government is conveniently concerned about the cost of housing. However, it obliges all municipalities to eliminate their developable areas from their PDMs [Regional Development Plans] by the end of 2023. However, the reduction of developable areas will result in a lower supply, with an increase in the cost of land and, consequently, in the cost of housing. This is yet another empty measure, to respond to the growing protests over the cost and lack of housing. But can we reduce the cost of housing by reducing the supply? I don’t think so.This serious housing problem is not a one-off or circumstantial problem, but the result of a wider framework, which is not confined to Portugal. That is why it is important to define an appropriate strategy, in terms of population dynamics, migration, accessibility and spatial planning, so that regions, cities and places can develop in a more balanced and fairer way. If there is no more or less decent housing for everyone, there will be no development for anyone. But let it be done in an open and never restrictive market economy, sustained by investment, to create well-being for all.

«At the end of the work, I always feel a mixture of pride and dissatisfaction... being left with the feeling that something could be improved»

Urban regeneration has been gaining the attention of the real estate market in recent years. What role should the architect play in this process? 
We can’t continue to create cities, growing in rings and pushing the most fragile to the peripheries, while the centres are emptied of urban life, to become mere tourist attraction points, where tourists, sooner or later, will realise that they only meet other tourists and that, in the end, the place is an amusement park. Before it is too late, we must know how to reverse this dynamic, to make cities more balanced and healthier, bringing people, activities, schools and universities, public and private entities into the city and rethinking the rationale of the car. This is a very complex and lengthy process, which goes far beyond the PDMs and the rehabilitation of buildings. This redevelopment will be a natural consequence of this process.
It is necessary to rethink the city, to respond to the current and future challenges, aware of the importance of the natural resources. Make it more inclusive. A more balanced and tolerant city, for everyone: locals, emigrants, tourists and everyone else. In fact, it is this dynamic that the city needs and it is nothing more than what history has taught us.
The architect’s role should not be limited to the restoration of façades or buildings, because the redevelopment of the city is much more than that. The architect must actively participate in the various scales of design, but also in urban, local and regional planning.  

And, in your opinion, what are the trends that will mark the real estate sector in Portugal?
The trends in the real estate sector follow the same logic as other market sectors, where small and medium-sized operators give way to large operators, with large-scale developments and very effective marketing operations, to sell a product advertised as highly desirable. The small-scale, personalised, tailor-made project will lose space. 

Sustainability is increasingly becoming one of the biggest factors to be taken into account in upcoming projects. How can architecture contribute to this?
Sustainability is sometimes a buzzword, because it’s nice to talk about it, but we don’t always know what we’re talking about. Sustainability implies a balance. Roofs are being filled with solar panels, in the name of sustainability. We risk living under a huge solar collector, with panels of all shapes and sizes and inclinations. The benefit it brings does not cover the architectural damage, but this is tolerated (and strongly encouraged) in the name of this so-called sustainability. 
Is that sustainability? I don’t think so.
The sustainability of buildings is made through integrated architectural solutions, constructive, definitions of materials and equipment and knowledge of their origin to verify their carbon footprint. Architecture has to increasingly be a reflection of this understanding. 

«We need development, not growth. Development in a balanced way, in time and space, with respect for places and people»

And what is the role of architecture in relation to the global environmental challenges? 
Architecture has a decisive role in the environmental challenges ahead of us. All project decisions, whether of design, origin and type of materials, as well as the choice of equipment, are important for the environmental future. I believe that this situation will evolve a lot in the near future. But, more important than creating restrictions, is the awareness that we all have to change and understand that the resources are not infinite. 

Do you think that future architects will think very differently from the architects of your generation?
I hope that each generation of architects will be better than the previous one and that the new generations will have a much more refined environmental awareness. They will be different and better, the result of a different context, with new challenges. 

From public to private projects, built from scratch or redeveloped, you have a vast portfolio, including tourist developments. Is there anything you have not yet designed that would make you feel completely accomplished?
Indeed, we have already carried out a variety of projects and works, both public and private. I believe that my accomplishment will never be complete, as I am always looking for new challenges. I would like to design a church or other temple, irrespective of the religion. Because of the symbolism and the desire to design something of a spiritual and unknown dimension.  

Of all the projects you have designed, which one has stood out the most in your professional life, and which one have you enjoyed creating the most (because of the challenge, the technique, the time dedicated)?
It is very difficult to answer that question. I really can’t name the one project that I most like or enjoyed designing. I always believe that the ones I am developing at the moment are the best and that the one I am about to start will be even better. But sometimes, for this or that reason, that doesn't always happen. Still, it is this illusion that the best is yet to come that stimulates our activity and creativity. I would say that the projects we create are like our children. There isn’t one that is the best. They are different.

«If there is no more or less decent housing for everyone, there will be no development for anyone»

Apart from architecture, you have also been developing other projects, such as writing, in published books. Is it important for Mário Martins to leave part of his work and his knowledge on paper, as a way of passing on his legacy?
Uzina Books has just published the book DUO - Mário Martins, which is the last of four monographies. This is a joint work with the publisher, a lengthy one, but one that gives me special pleasure. It is not so much to have the work published in book form, because the Internet ends up, in one way or another, recording the work that has been built. For that very reason, written publications are losing space. What I like the most in the preparation of these books is the possibility to interrupt the mercenariness of the studio work, in order to look anew at the projects, analyse them and present them through a graphic language, a guideline that is no more than the evolution of our work. In this process, situations, which serve as a learning process for the next projects. The DUO book is about grouping and identifying similarities between two different projects and showing how they can be organised and coexist in a certain more or less urban context. Thus, showing that architecture and life are not inseparable.

Is it easy to come up with ideas when practising architecture? Or are there moments when creativity waits for the right time? 
It is easy to have ideas. It is more difficult to have good ideas. The good or the bad ones come from our knowledge and, many times, arise from the difficulties, conditioning and circumstances of the project. Therefore, it is necessary to feed our intellect. It is a continuous process, which involves acquiring and processing knowledge. That is: knowing, knowing how to see and thinking. The architect is not necessarily better for having looked at many architectural websites and knowing the new architectural trends, rather for having his own understanding of history and the current world. It is natural that the intensity of the work makes me tired. I reenergise myself by getting out of the routine, travelling, visiting an exhibition, a museum or watching a show. I don’t try to curate architecture with architecture alone. Good ideas don’t necessarily come from the world of architecture. Sometimes they come from where and when you least expect them. They can come from nature, from a casual conversation or from reading a book. 

What values should an architect be guided by? Where does his ‘freedom’ begin and end?
The architect should be governed by the same values that should guide all people, plus the values that must be obeyed by the exercise of the profession, whether professional ethics and respect for colleagues, or duties to clients, entities or others.
Unfortunately, the architect’s freedom is becoming more limited. The increasing responsibility of the architect in a dispersed and contradictory and I would even say intimidating legislative panorama limits his civil and professional freedom. This scares me more and more. In fact, I feel a growing revolt, which I believe is common to all architects in the design area. What I still keep intact is the freedom of thought. As I said before, if we gain our knowledge in a free and sensible way, we will be able to make the right decisions and, thus, we will be more immune to the increasing appeals, which come to us through social networks, to think like others and to believe a repeated lie.

«We can’t continue to create cities, growing in rings and pushing the most fragile to the peripheries, while the centres are emptied of urban life, to become mere tourist attraction points»

Is having the freedom to think outside the box something that makes you comfortable with every project? Or do you prefer to stick to the request?
I always have the freedom to think. It’s just that, for various reasons, I may not be able to realise my thoughts. When you refer to ‘request’, I think this is the programme of the project. There is no project without a programme. The programme is crucial to the development of the project. It is the basis of the project. The client has the right, and the duty, to present his request. This may or may not fit within his budget, available area or any other constraint. Thus, with our intervention, the request can be readjusted. The project does not simply join the areas of a programme, but creates something interesting from that and the other legislative, budgetary and technical constraints, but desirably in a context of creative freedom. 

Is it the locations that bring an added value to the project or vice-versa?
The locations determine the design of the projects, and should contribute to their added value. The quality of the projects contributes to the quality of the locations. It is a reciprocal relationship. 

«The architect’s role should not be limited to the restoration of façades or buildings, because the redevelopment of the city is much more than that» 

A good architect is only possible with a good team. Do you agree?
Of course, I do. Architecture is an increasingly complex activity, which involves a growing technical component. The architectural project has to integrate and resolve the most diverse issues in a single solution, duly coordinated and articulated. Working in BIM, with the entire architectural team and engineering specialties in the same model, makes the importance of teamwork even more obvious. 

Do you continue to live architecture with the same intensity with which you began?
I still live architecture with the same intensity with which I started, but not with the same naivety. However, despite some obstacles, I still continue, with some of that naivety, to believe in a wonderful project that we are going to do. It is this enthusiasm, almost childlike, that makes us believe and continue to work with passion. It’s like no longer being a child and continuing to believe in Father Christmas, knowing that he doesn’t exist. 

«Sustainability is sometimes a buzzword, because it’s nice to talk about it, but we don’t always know what we're talking about»

If you were not an architect, what would you like to be? 
I don’t remember wanting to be an architect from a very young age, but I really enjoy being an architect. But I feel a great calling for drawing and fine arts, which occupies part of the little free time I have. Despite the difficulty of a blank sheet of paper and the need for a dialogue between me and the client, creating in the fine arts is done without the weight of responsibility, the intensity and the, sometimes, cruel world of architecture. 

Any architect and project must be... 
Any architect must be coherent. Any project must be coherent and of quality.