The introduction of new construction materials and the teaching of engineering based on technical intelligence: The role of Antão Almeida Garrett

Through the teaching of engineering, the introduction of new materials into civil construction gained a privileged mean of circulating knowledge and stimulating the new construction experiences that shaped a technical intelligence within the scope of which there stood out the professor of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, including Francisco Xavier Esteves, Francisco Correia de Araújo and Antão Almeida Garrett. This chapter’s objective is to analyse the introduction of reinforcing cement and its interconnections with the study plans for engineering teaching at the University of Porto in the 1920s and 1930s, which were first structured around the Technical Faculty that later became the Engineering Faculty of Porto University. We correspondingly opted to identify some of the specific experiences and theoretical reflections around the application of this new construction material and highlighting the role of Antão Almeida Garrett and his purposes for advancing with the utilisation of reinforced cement in civil construction, especially in industrial buildings in Porto.