“Engenho e Obra” results from a wide-scope work programme, which was developed with the purpose of allowing the identification and analysis of the most important aspects of engineering in Portugal in the 20th century. Based on a multi-disciplinary research project involving a large group of engineers, historians, economists and technologists, the exhibit was designed with the goal of disseminating knowledge but, above all, of fostering a scientific-based technological culture, of spreading a historical message which allows citizens in general – and particularly younger generations – to learn and appreciate the facts and works, the strategies and conceptions, the failures and successes of 100 years of engineering knowledge, thought and achievement in Portugal. In summary, the goal is to study the past, plunge into the origins, transversally go through the last century and explore the future. Furthermore, this exhibit aims at showing how art and genius matched technology, and how Portugal’s most recent contemporary history was indelibly influenced by a specific social group: the engineers.

The work programme included two main directions: an exhibit of national scope and a large set of publications made available by various means and dissemination platforms, including a web site, www.engenharia.com.pt. In this context, the project included the development of a database including a detailed chronology, a survey of thousands of iconographic elements, and the identification of the key moments in innovation, bibliography and legislation.

Nevertheless, the making of engineering history in Portugal throughout the 20th century is also a tribute to many different people and institutions, with more or less protagonism, and often anonymously, who left us a legacy of progress and welfare and set the path for the future. The objective is simply to show what is tangible – the great achievements, free of nostalgic or celebratory intentions. What made us embark on this project was, from the beginning, to show engineering as a process of constant construction and learning, valuing a critical perspective and an analysis of the historical development of engineering associated with the main innovation moments of the history of Portugal in the 20th century.