In –InterVIEW/LISTEN 12–Dr. Jorge Figueira, Dr. Rui Lobo and Dr. Nuno Alberto Leite Rodriguez Grande discussed their respective roles as Coordinators of the PhD Seminar in Cultural Studies and Architecture; the PhD Seminar in Theory and History of Architecture and Urbanism; and the PhD Seminar in Urban Culture and Design, which are part of the Doctoral Program in Architecture at the Universidade de Coimbra in Portugal.

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During the interVIEW, the programs coordinators provided an overview of the doctoral programs at the Universidade de Coimbra, offering insight into some of the history that has led to the establishment of the three research areas, and their current developments. They were also asked to speak about how research is defined in the program, and in what way the program structure, tools and opportunities contribute to the development of the research outcomes of the program and how these in turn shape the student’s own research.

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The questions also covered the role of the supervisor and whether students define their research topics independently over the three years of the program, or whether these are based on the school’s research areas, funding opportunities or are influenced by the Visiting Professors who are invited to run workshops for the doctoral students in the three PhD programs. Each year, invited Visiting Professors bring new research themes to the school that fall within the broad scope of cultural studies in architecture and intersect with other field of knowledge such as post-colonialism, feminism, post-modernism, psychoanalysis, etc. Anthony Vidler (1941-2023), for example, delivered a workshop on the theme of the architectural uncanny.

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Jorge Figueira holds a graduate degree in architecture from the University of Porto (1992) and a PhD from the University of Coimbra (2009). He is director and professor at the University of Coimbra’s School of Architecture and is an invited professor in the PhD Programme in Architecture, FAUP and a researcher at the Centre for Social Studies of UC. Author of several books, including: A Noite em Arquitectura (2007) and A Periferia Perfeita. Pós-modernidade na arquitectura portuguesa Anos 1960-1980 (2014). He regularly contributes to Público newspaper, writing on architecture, and has been widely published in international architecture magazines.

Rui Lobo (Mozambique, 1970) is an associate professor at the Departament of Architecture / Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), where he has been teaching since 1994, and has been a researcher at CES - Centre for Social Studies. He holds a Degree in Architecture (1994) and a PhD in Architecture (2010) from the University of Coimbra. He has produced research in the field of history of architecture and urbanism, especially concerning university and college buildings and facilities. He also researches the history of Portuguese architecture and Jesuit architecture. From 2011 to 2015 he was Coordinator of the Master Course in Architecture at the FCTUC, and from 2015 to 2018 he was Vice-Director of the Department of Architecture / FCTUC. He is currently Vice-Coordinator of the Doctoral Course in Architecture of the University of Coimbra, since 2014.

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Nuno Alberto Leite Rodriguez Grande obtained a degree in Architecture from the University of Porto (1992), and a PhD (2009) from the Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra (DARQ/FCTUC), where he teaches as Assistant Professor. He has been a Guest Lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto, since 2006, in the Master and PhD programs. Since 2010, he has been Vice-Coordinator, of the PhD Program of the Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra (DARQ/FCTUC). He was responsible for the Cultural Program on Architecture and City, in Porto 2001, European Capital of Culture, and was the main curator of the Portuguese Exhibition at the 1st Lisbon Architecture Triennale and at the 7th São Paulo Architecture Biennale, both in 2007. He was curator of the exhibition “The Urban Being. On the trails of Nuno Portas”, for Guimarães 2012, European Capital of Culture. Grande published in Portugal (JA, Arq/a), Spain (El Croquis, Arquitectura Viva, 2G), Switzerland (wb+w), Croatia (Oris), France (L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui), Holland (A10) and Japan (A+U). In 2008, Nuno Grande created, together with other colleagues, a collective architectural design studio - Pedra Líquida (Liquid Stone).