The research aims to produce a new and bilateral understanding of knowledge about the spread of architecture and urbanism made by the Portuguese in South Asia across the Portuguese empire since the 17th c. (post-Enlightenment), by focusing on its vectors, connections, semantics and materiality in the geographic and linguistic context of South Asia engaging both Western and non-Western environments and conversely the imprint of South Asian architecture on Portuguese Western architecture and urbanism. It posits that the bilateral colonial channel (e.g. architecture made by the Portuguese in India), represented but one aspect of a larger multifaceted history.

By combining interdisciplinarity of architectural and urban history with area studies’ knowledge, the intention is to map and analyse more complex dissemination patterns and border-crossing relationships. Beyond architecture and urbanism, the challenge is to contribute to the writing of a history of modern Portuguese culture, including overseas expansions and transnational dynamics in its scope.