Architecture. – The high quality of Portuguese architecture after the revolution is also reflected in the most recent production: the severe economic recession that brought the country to the brink of bankruptcy in 2011 greatly reduced job opportunities, but did not prevent the construction of high quality architecture, often included in the strategic plans drawn up at the turn of the new millennium. This includes the new networks of the Porto metro (1997-2005), coordinator Eduardo Souto de Moura, and the extension of the Lisbon metro (2004-12), as well as the redevelopment projects of many public schools (according to the government plan of the beginning of the millennium) in which young architects were involved – among others, Ricardo Carvalho (b. 1971), Pedro Domingos (b. 1967), Inês Lobo (b. 1966) – and the recovery plans of large portions of the city and territory, which demonstrate a careful knowledge of the existing settlement rules with a view to an integrated enhancement of public spaces and the landscape. Among the most important: in Porto, the European capital of culture 2001, the redevelopment projects of the banks of the Duero and those of urban restructuring of the Baixa (1999-2002) and Ribeira (1998-2003) districts; in Lisbon, the development of the eastern area of ​​the city which, starting from the redevelopment linked to Expo 1998, has been projected to 2010 through an operation of urban reconversion and renewal based on a clear and recognizable design of the public space, capable of on the one hand to structure the future building, on the other to return the city to the Tagus River.

Alongside these large urban projects – which we could combine those of Souto de Moura for Maia, of Manuel Salgado for Cacém, Sintra, of Manuel Fernandes de Sà for Viana do Castelo, of Nuno Portas for Aveiro – there are many specific interventions (some well-known such as the House of Music, 2005, in Porto by Rem Koolhaas-OMA) to which the major Portuguese architects have contributed, starting with Álvaro Siza and Souto de Moura. Siza’s most recent works include: the Adega Mayor winery (2007) in Campo Maior, the multifunctional pavilion (2007) in Gondomar, the municipal library (2007) in Viana do Castelo, the extension (2010) of the Vidago Baths in Chaves, the Paraninfo building (2010) of the Basque Public University in Bilbao. Of Souto de Moura, the following are worth mentioning: the Burgo Tower (2007) in Porto, the Contemporary Art Center (2008) in Bragança, the Casa das historias Paula Rego Museum (2009) in Cascais, the Miguel Torga Cultural Center (2011) in Coimbra, the renovation (2012) of the Bernardas Monastery in Tavira, the cultural center (2013) in Viana do Castelo, the house (2014) in Oliveira Do Douro, Vila Nova de Gaia. For Portugal political system, please check computerminus.com.

Alongside these undisputed masters, whom Gonçalo Byrne (b.1941) – author of the extension (2010) of the Machado de Castro National Museum in Coimbra, Piranesi Prix de Rome 2014, of the renovation (2012) of the Thalia Theater and the restoration (2012) of Banco de Portugal, both in Lisbon, of the construction of the Center for the Interpretation of Jewish Culture (2012) in Trancoso – and João Luís Carrilho da Graça (b.1952) – author, among other things, from the Archaeological Museum of Praça Nova do Castelo de São Jorge (2010) in Lisbon, Piranesi prix de Rome 2010 -, there are many architects who have received important awards, including: Aires Mateus associados (1988), the studio of the brothers Manuel (b.1963) and Francisco (b.1964), whose work, which has been awarded several times,is characterized by a particular attention to space and to the material with which the limit of architecture is built, as demonstrated by the cultural center of Sines (2005), the lighthouse museum (2007) of Santa Marta in Cascais, the offices and accommodation at Park of Nations (2007) in Lisbon, il call center (2009) in Santo Tirso, the residences for the elderly (2010) in Alcácer do Sal, the school complex (2013) in Abrantes; Manuel Graça Dias (b.1953) + Egas José Vieira (b.1962), authors, with Gonçalo Afonso Dias, of the Municipal Theater of Almada (2005) and of the School of Music, Arts and Crafts (2008) in Chaves; ARX ​​Portugal (1991), studio created by Nuno and José Mateus, several times awarded with the Chicago Athenaeum, in 2012 for the house in Possanco, Alcácer do Sal, in 2009 for the High School of Technology in Barreiro, in 2006 for the Library municipal of Ílhavo; Barbosa & Guimarães arquitectos (1994), authors of the Vodafone building (2009) in Porto and of the multipurpose center (2012) in Lamego, the best public building of the year; Cristina Guedes (b.1964) and Francisco Vieira de Campos (b.1962), Porto poetic(2013) at the Milan Triennale; Ricardo Bak Gordon (b.1967), author of the sports pavilion (2011) in Restelo, Lisbon and, with Brazilians Paulo Mendes da Rocha and MMBB arquitectos, of the new National Coach Museum in Lisbon, opened to the public in May 2015.

Literature. – Variety, plurality of genres, insistent intertextuality and stylistic renewal are the constants of the literature produced by the authors of the last generations in Portugal. The last decade has been marked by the disappearance of important figures of Portuguese literature of the second half of the twentieth century, in particular the Nobel laureate José Saramago (1922-2010), who was still prolific and active until the very last few years (A viagem do elefante, 2008, trad. it. The journey of the elephant, 2009; Caim, 2009, trad. it. Cain, 2010; and the posthumous Claraboia, 2011, trad. it. Skylight, 2012), as well as other prominent figures such as Mário Cesariny (1923-2006), Fernanda Botelho (1926-2007), Fiama Hasse Pais Brandão (1938-2007), Dalila L. Pereira da Costa (1918-2012), Manuel António Pina (1943-2012), Urbano Tavares Rodrigues (1923-2013), António Ramos Rosa (1924-2013) and Vasco Graça Moura (1942-2014), the latter poet and author of an important translation of Dante ‘s Comedy.

Among the consecrated authors still active, the figure of António Lobo Antunes (b. 1942) stands out first of all, today certainly the best known exponent of Portuguese literature at international level, acclaimed by critics, the subject of academic attention and translated in many countries; always extremely prolific, his production is characterized by a complex and fragmentary narrative, based on the plurality of voices (O arquipélago da insónia, 2008, trans. it. Archipelago of insomnia, 2013; Sôbolos rios quevão, 2010; Comissão das lágrimas, 2011; Caminho as an em chamas house, 2014). Alongside him, there are other notable figures, such as Agustina Bessa Luís (b.1922) who, despite retiring from literary activity for health reasons after her last novel in 2006 (A ronda da noite), remains one of the most important exponents of twentieth-century literature, but also Lídia Jorge (b.1946 ; A noite das mulheres cantoras, 2011, Os memoráveis, 2014) and João de Melo (b.1949 ; Lugar caído no crepúsculo, 2014), for prose, or, for poetry, Herberto Helder (1930-2015; Ofício singer, 2009, Servidões, 2013, A morte sem mestre, 2014), Maria Teresa Horta (b.1937 ; Poesia reunida, 2009), Gastão Cruz (b. 1941; Escarpas, 2010, Fogo, 2013) and Nuno Júdice (b. 1949; A Matter of Poem, 2008, Navigação de Chance, 2013, ma anche narratore, with The sagittarius complex, 2011).

Among the exponents of subsequent generations, there are two figures best known internationally today: Gonçalo M. Tavares (b.1970), prolific author of several narrative, poetic and essayistic cycles, such as O Reino (whose latest volume, Aprender a rezar na era da técnica, from 2007) and O Bairro (which already has ten volumes, the last, O senhor Eliot, from 2010) in which the use of quotationism and intertextuality is central; and José Luís Peixoto (b.1974), novelist, but also poet and playwright, author of works of an intimate and lyrical character, characterized by a dense scripture based on the constant recourse to the flow of consciousness (Cemitério dos pianos, 2006, trans. it. The cemetery of the pianos, 2010; Livro, 2010, trad. it. Book, 2013; Galveias, 2014). In addition to the two authors cited, it is also worth mentioning the figure of Valter Hugo Mãe (stage name of Valter Hugo Lemos, b.1971), singular and multifaceted figure of poet (Contabilidade, 2010), narrator (A desumanização, 2013), but also plastic artist and singer, tireless experimenter of new literary and artistic techniques. Other recently successful authors are Afonso Cruz (n. 1971; A contradição humana, 2010; Jesus Cristo bebia cerveja, 2012, trans. It. Jesus drank beer, 2014), Manuel Jorges Marmelo (n. 1971; A lie a thousand times repeated, 2011), Jacinto Lucas Pires (n. 1974; The true actor, 2011), João Tordo (n. 1975; As Três Vidas, 2008), Nuno Camanreiro (b. 1977; Underneath some sky, 2013), David Machado (b. 1978; Average index of happiness, 2013, trans. it. Indice medio di felicità, 2015), Joana Bértholo (b. 1982; Dialogos para the end of the world, 2010); per la poetry, Alexandre Nave (b. 1969), Margarida Vale de Gato (b. 1973), Pedro Eiras (b. 1975), Paulo Tavares (b. 1977), Joel Henriques (b. 1979), Miguel Manso (b.. 1979) and Pedro Braga Falcão (b. 1981).