The architectural heritage bequeathed to us has been systematically destroyed by the incompetence and corruption of owners, promoters and appointed managers, either through ignorance or to satisfy more immediate and materialistic goals. They have allowed, promoted and executed plans for the destruction, perversion or brutal and unreasonable modernization of this historical and irreplaceable legacy.
This article, first presented at the Casa Nobre International Congress (2005) deals briefly with some of the most visible aspects of this divorce between legislation and reality, between theory and practice, between the ideal and the achievable, supported by the 1991 and 2001 censuses.