In a time of rapid change and unprecedented challenges — from the housing crisis to the climate emergency and the impact of artificial intelligence — architecture reaffirms itself as an essential discipline in the construction of integrated, ethical and transformative responses.
The 17th Architects’ Congress, hosted by the Order of Architects of Portugal, in Évora (Portugal) from 13 to 15 November 2025, proposes a committed look at the present and future of the profession, calling on architects to critically reflect on the role they play in contemporary society.
Under the motto “Essential Intelligence”, the Congress questions how architecture can cultivate an applied intelligence — technical, sensitive, ethical and collective — capable of distinguishing the essential from the accessory, and of transforming urgencies into meaningful projects. By evoking the essence of architectural practice, the dignity of living, territorial justice and environmental quality are placed at the centre of the debate.
In this context, the Congress affirms architecture as a driving force for sustainable, culturally rooted and collaborative solutions, promoting the intersection with complementary fields of knowledge such as engineering, urban planning, landscape architecture, social and human sciences, and geography. Thinking with essential intelligence is, today, a transformative, political and deeply human act.
AMBITION AND OBJECTIVES
The 17th Congress of Architects aims to reaffirm architecture as a cultural, technical and ethical practice, with the capacity to anticipate and lead innovative responses to contemporary challenges. To this end, it has set itself the following strategic objectives:
- Foster innovation in architectural practice by promoting the integration of emerging technologies and advanced construction methods — such as modular construction, 3D printing, and BIM modelling — with a view to enhancing efficiency, quality, and control at all stages of the design and construction process.
- Respond to the housing crisis with accessible, scalable and environmentally responsible architectural solutions, designed with spatial rigour, constructive intelligence and territorial roots, integrating industrialisation, efficient resource management and sensitivity to the diversity of urban and landscape contexts.
- Promote territorial and ecological resilience through architectural strategies committed to the sustainable management of water, energy and materials, capable of addressing the impacts of climate change with adaptive solutions integrated into the territory.
- Contribute to the physical, social and symbolic reconstruction of territories affected by conflicts or disasters through safe, viable and culturally rooted architectural proposals capable of regenerating communities, re-establishing bonds of belonging and restoring dignity to people and places.
- Strengthen equity in the profession by promoting a more inclusive and representative architecture, committed to social, cultural and gender diversity, both in professional practice and in training courses.
These objectives reflect a firm commitment to responsible innovation, territorial cohesion and collective well-being, affirming architecture as a transformative discipline, sensitive to the urgencies of the present and capable of designing a more just and habitable future.
Read the Congress programme here.