A “Porto de Arquitetura” to display the city’s iconic buildings

Porto City Hall and Casa da Arquitectura will promote, between February and July a cycle of visits, free and open to the public, to eight buildings representing the most recent contemporary architecture in Porto.

Terminal Intermodal, headquarters of Go Porto and Porto Ambiente, Escola Secundária Alexandre Herculano are some of the locations included in the first edition of this initiative, which aims to place architects and Porto inhabitants debating issues that cut across society.

“Big part of Porto’s character and personality has a lot to do with this specific relationship that was built between the city and architecture”, underscored the councillor for Urbanism and Public Space, during the presentation of the initiative which took place, this Wednesday, at Batalha Centro de Cinema.

“Porto is admittedly recognized as a city of architects; it has always been. It has a famous school, the luck of having a wide range of professionals, both national and international, of world excellence, working here”, added Pedro Baganha, for whom “the quality of what is being built in the city is much more the responsibility of the authors of the projects than necessarily of those who approve them”, showing through good examples and practices “what good is being done in Porto, contaminating all other projects”.

Debate the city with the city

Valuing a set of recent architectural works, which were not receiving the visibility they deserve, is one of the goals of “Porto de Arquitetura”. “It is all about debating the city with the city. In other words, presenting the most recent works made in Porto, known internationally by its good architecture” stood out the director of Casa da Arquitectura.

Eight buildings, as many visits and conversations “on a set of transversal themes in society. For example, how culture can help with the refurbishment or be the engine of transformation of the city or debate issues of sustainability in architecture”, added Nuno Sampaio.

Each visit will provide a conversation with the architects responsible for the work, as well as with other personalities connected to the spaces, allowing us to know, in a privileged way, the process of conception, construction and refurbishment of the spaces.

Check here the entire “Porto de Arquitetura” program and the eight selected buildings – from housing to infrastructure, including buildings destined to education, culture, tourism, and municipal services.