The purpose of this communication is to disseminate the reflections of architect Manuel Taínha on architectural education. Manuel Mendes Taínha was a Portuguese architect, critic, professor, and the sole Portuguese recipient of the highly recognised Jean Tschumi Award, presented by the International Union of Architects in 2002 in the teaching category.

Professor at various architecture faculties in Portugal, Manuel Taínha was not appointed as a teacher in the 1960s by the prevailing political regime at the Superior School of Fine Arts in Lisbon. Nevertheless, this did not preclude his involvement in teaching. His lengthy teaching career commenced in 1965 at the National Society of Fine Arts in Lisbon and concluded in 2010 at the Faculty of Architecture of the Lusíada University in Lisbon. Over the course of his 45-year teaching career, which was pursued concurrently with his architectural and critical practice, Manuel Taínha became regarded as one of the most esteemed educators among a generation of distinguished architects. In 1994, the final year of his tenure at a public university, students presented him with the inaugural publication of his texts and reflections. Subsequently, two further collections were produced.

In 1954, he published the inaugural Portuguese architectural critique in a Portuguese architectural journal. As a member of numerous national and international architectural organisations, he consistently offered critical insights regarding the trajectory of the profession and its pedagogy.

This study will commence with an examination of the numerous communications and texts he left on the teaching and practice of the profession. Through this analysis, we aim to elucidate a voice that persistently articulated the architect's perspective. In his view, the intricate discipline of architecture, situated at the nexus of art and technology, should be informed by the insights of the social sciences and occupy a position between diverse forms of knowledge. For Manuel Taínha, the essence of architectural practice lies in the synthesis of knowledge, which is only achievable through an interdisciplinary approach.

In response to the question of how the curriculum for teaching and training new architects should be structured, Taínha, in his capacity as both a teacher and an architect, puts forward a number of hypotheses, all of which are consistent with the connection to the world of the profession itself. This professor identifies the alienation of architectural practice during the formative years as a significant factor contributing to student frustration with the profession. Furthermore, the estrangement of architecture from civil society is reflected in the discrepancy between the academic and professional spheres.

The dissemination of Manuel Taínha's insights represents a crucial step in re-evaluating the pedagogical approach to architectural education. This encompasses not only the conventional disciplines of drawing and mathematics, but also an understanding of the broader aspects of architectural practice. It is evident that these issues remain a significant challenge in the present era, as evidenced by the ongoing revisions to Portuguese architectural curricula at various academic institutions.

Keywords: Manuel Tainha, architectural education, critical thinking and problem solving, teaching architecture, history of architecture, learning and transversal skills.