Vintage Portugal: Part I - A Visionary

"From the child of five to myself is but a step but from the new-born baby to the child of five is an appalling distance".

Leo Tolstoy had written many famous novels and stories but the above quote is, arguably, his deepest insight into human nature. Small things are often easy to overlook, and sometimes even difficult to see - yet, smallness is the foundation of everything in existence. Examples are countless, giant sequoias growing from a seed about the size of an oat flake, and all the who's who of the human race starting as embryos being just the two of them. Some of human inventions reflect that, too - none more so than the game of chess combining potential of the smallest (pawns) to become the mightiest (Queen), and natural growth of the designated leader (the King starts the game as the weakest and most vulnerable piece but often finishes it as the strongest one).

Survival of the smallest is paramount to survival of life as such, and Nature made sure that smallness is duly appreciated and properly taken care of by most living things. Almost literally every species protects its young. In addition, the arguably most developed and complex species (humans) has a natural affinity for all things small - and every now and then expresses it in a creative way. Miniature museums, such as Mini-Europe in Brussels, Miniature World in Victoria, and countless others are the most immediate and conspicuous manifestation of that creativity. Their exhibits are both informative and visually stunning. It's hard to believe that one can come up with something even more refined - yet, even they somewhat pale before an all-out masterpiece in Coimbra where exhibits aren't only great to look at but can actually be entered and explored.

The above structures aren't models but actual buildings that are cut to size to admit their target visitors whose identity is revealed in the very name of the place: "Portugal dos Pequenitos" - "Portugal of (and for!) the Little Ones". What makes them unique is not just remarkable craftsmanship that went into their making but, first of all, the concept that brought them about. In other words, the fact that they were meant as part not of a museum but of a pedagogical playground!

A University of Coimbra professor Bissaya Barreto must have known all too well that playgrounds are the best schools because children learn best through playing. He also cared deeply about social issues - enough to create a foundation "responsible for cultural activities and social work". It was through that foundation that Barreto teamed up with the modernist architect Cassiano Branco who translated his vision into physical structures in 1940. Notwithstanding Salazar's dictatorship and a great war raging on the continent, the two of them created a miracle that has for 86 years taught children history, art and, maybe even more importantly, the skill of being Portuguese.