A group of volunteer architects have pledged to help rebuild houses affected by the 2018 summer wildfires, following the signing of a document earlier this afternoon in Monchique, between the Southern Regional Section of the Order of Architects, and the Council.
In essence, the Order will open up its already existing “Voluntary Emergency Support Architects (AVAE)” programme, which will provide the municipality with the professional and technical experience of a pool of architects who will be available to assist in the reconstruction of buildings and homes in the Monchique area.
The signing took place in the Monchique Council building, with the presence of Paula Torgal, president the southern section of the Order of Architects, and Rui André, mayor of the municipality.
The large fires, which hit the municipality most severely back in early August 2018, caused a great deal of damage to many homes. It is with this in mind that the group of architects have agreed to give their time to aid in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the affected buildings within the municipality of Monchique.
This program was originally launched in 2017, as a joint initiative between the Southern and Northern regional sections of the Order of Architects in response to the scourge of fires that struck the centre of the country that year.
The Emergency Support Volunteer Architects Exchange is open to all members of the Order. With this initiative, members of the Orders can act, whenever necessary in disaster situations, to improve urban planning and building throughout the country. The architects participating in this initiative are also given the necessary skills and technical assistance in matters of architecture to carry out their work for emergency scenarios.
Paula Torgal, president of the SRS of the Order of Architects, says that “the project carried out over the past two years by the Regional Sections, which has responded with great availability and immense solidarity. It has reinforced the role of architecture as a structural element of society through voluntary and altruistic participation in contributing to urban planning among the most fragile populations and in the search for technical solutions that in the future can lessen the impact of new disasters.”
