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This article problematizes the development of the urban fabric of the city of Macao from a conceptual standpoint: urbanism is not merely a technique nor simply a State policy, but an interdisciplinary practice that places humanity, well-being, and the relationship with the environment at the center of spatial organization. The author asserts that urbanism evolves under the influence of institutional powers — kings, popes, dictators — often without consulting the citizen; he highlights that, for Macao, as for other metropolises, spatial management must reconcile multiple decision-making powers, collective memory, and local identities, aiming at democratic, integrated, and sustainable urbanization. The methodology focuses on a theoretical reading articulated with empirical examples of building rehabilitation at Largo de S. Domingos, whose photographic documentation (1998–2000) illustrates operations of "recovery" and reactivation of urban heritage, exemplifying planning practices oriented toward daily life and public use. The text engages with references to global urban models (Versailles, Brasília, Barcelona, Rome, Istanbul, Berlin) to discuss the relationship between planning, power, and social practice, advocating a vision of urbanism that respects habits, traditions, and collective memory. It concludes by defending Macao as a space of humane, pedagogical, and democratic urbanism, capable of transforming memory into a driver of quality of life and social cohesion.
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The article analyzes the references to Chinese silk found in European printed documentation from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, discussing how this news coverage helped shape perceptions, desires, and commercial practices within the European sphere. Starting from the observation that silk frequently appears in works of the period and that, although trade involved it as a commodity, its value extended beyond a strictly economic logic, the author argues that the printed circulation of "news" about silk also functioned as a mechanism for producing imaginaries about the East, reinforcing the prestige of China as a region of wonders and artistic excellence. Methodologically, the work carries out a historiographic and documentary reading of European editorial production, organizing the contents into thematic nuclei to identify how the origin, material qualities, forms of circulation (including circuits and entrepôts), and social uses associated with the fabrics are described. As a result, it concludes that Chinese silk, even when compared with less expressive European textiles, was perceived as incomparable in lightness, resistance, color, and plasticity, fueling demand among civil and religious elites. Thus, printed documentation not only recorded the presence of the product but also intensified its capacity to impact European society, articulating consumption, status, and cultural fascination.
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The article analyzes the Sino-Portuguese embroidered textiles from the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), proposing that this production, destined for the export market, constituted a cultural synthesis resulting from the reconfiguration of Luso-Chinese relations from the mid-sixteenth century onward, with particular emphasis on commercial communication and the establishment of Macau as an entrepôt. The author argues that, despite the centrality of Chinese silk in Asian economies and the Portuguese role in mediating trade routes (including Canton), these embroideries remain little studied as a corpus and, above all, lack an integrated historiographic reading. Methodologically, the text favors a systemic approach based on inventory and comparative analysis of over 150 specimens identified over approximately a decade in Portuguese private and public collections, articulating technical procedures, material solutions, iconography, plastic approaches, and functional dimensions. The main conclusions indicate the existence of a highly constant and coherent profile that goes beyond mere contextualization and purpose. Finally, the author distinguishes two functional universes: a religious production, associated with Catholic worship and the mission of the Padroado; and a secular production aimed at the European civil community, especially the Lusophone one, intended for decoration and civil clothing, reflecting the diversity of actors involved in the overseas enterprise.
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This article analyzes the transition of the religious and geopolitical landscape in Japan at the turn of the seventeenth century, marked by the end of the Catholic monopoly and the arrival of the first Protestant Europeans. For fifty years, the Christian presence was perceived by the Japanese authorities as a unified bloc, despite tensions between the Iberian crowns. However, the arrival of the Dutch ship *Liefde* in 1600 and the subsequent protection granted by Tokugawa Ieyasu to its crew introduced a new variable into the European presence in the Far East. Drawing on documentary sources from the Society of Jesus—namely the correspondence of Alessandro Valignano and Bishop D. Luís Cerqueira—and on accounts by Portuguese contemporaries, the author examines the immediate reaction of the Jesuits and the agents of the Macau trade to the intrusion of the "red-haired men" (*kômôjin*). The study highlights the strategic importance of military technology, specifically the use of European artillery by Ieyasu at decisive moments such as the Battle of Sekigahara and the sieges of Osaka. It concludes that, although the immediate commercial threat posed by the newcomers was initially limited, their presence irreversibly altered the dynamics of influence, challenging Luso-Jesuit hegemony and laying the groundwork for new diplomatic and religious conflicts in the Japanese archipelago.
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- Journal Article (4)