Porto
The city of Porto, Portugal may be my favorite European city ever. This past summer, my then-fiancé and I took a road trip through Spain and Portugal. Porto is not like other European cities. It hasn't been polished, swept and cleaned. It's old city hasn't yet turned into a pedestrian shopping mall. The markets are still run by old Portuguese women- not overtaken by trendy coffeeshops and vegan cafes (I do, however, like both of these things). It's still a little rough around the edges but this makes it even more refined to me. It would be hard to build a building here and not respond to the context- Porto's chilly coastal climate and dramatic landscape of cliffs tumbling into the Atlantic say a lot.
Álvaro Siza's architecture responds to all of this, even in the larger scale buildings of his, such as the University of Porto's Architecture School and Serralves Museum. The architecture school was built between 1985 & 1996 for another generation (as evidenced by the built-in indoor ashtrays), yet it looks completely contemporary and timeless. The school is on a hill above the Douro River. The simple facades don't give much away, but the interior spaces are transformative with the use light, volumes and simple materials. Organizationally, the separate buildings are connected by a corridor below an upper plaza. Interior ramps navigate grade changes within in the main building. Although 22 years old and used by architecture students, the school has aged gracefully.
What a difference between this building and Casa da Musica only 5 minutes away!
Álvaro Siza's architecture responds to all of this, even in the larger scale buildings of his, such as the University of Porto's Architecture School and Serralves Museum. The architecture school was built between 1985 & 1996 for another generation (as evidenced by the built-in indoor ashtrays), yet it looks completely contemporary and timeless. The school is on a hill above the Douro River. The simple facades don't give much away, but the interior spaces are transformative with the use light, volumes and simple materials. Organizationally, the separate buildings are connected by a corridor below an upper plaza. Interior ramps navigate grade changes within in the main building. Although 22 years old and used by architecture students, the school has aged gracefully.
What a difference between this building and Casa da Musica only 5 minutes away!
Like a spaceship
Responding to topography
What we always hear in school is to respond to the site environment, but in reality we can always see buildings that are out of place. So who is this problem?
ReplyDeleteI love the way that the light plays on the walls in this building. In school, I always think I will take the time to thoroughly understand the lighting conditions, but it seems to be a last priority. It's too bad though because it has such a dramatic affect on the ambiance of the interior.
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