Reflections on architecture

by Lester Silveira

A balcão, in the Goan home, is a threshold — a place to pause, observe, converse, and watch the world pass by. This website borrows that spirit.

Here, I publish writings on architecture, conservation, cities, photography, and the shifting idea of home. Some pieces begin as academic essays, lectures, or research and find a second life here; others are shorter reflections, field notes, and photographic essays.

My interests move across heritage, urban regeneration, migration, and the cultural landscapes of Goa and its diaspora — though occasionally, this space wanders elsewhere.

I am an architect, conservationist, and educator, currently exploring themes in the Conservation & Regeneration Program at CEPT University. Alongside teaching and research, I work in the conservation of built heritage, where archival research and community-centred approaches shape how I read places, buildings, and their histories.

I started The Balcão in 2017 as a place to think through architecture and memory. It remains deliberately slow — a few essays a year, published when there is something worth saying.