Architecture Porto - Aliados by Porto Convention & Visitors Bureau

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SÉ - CASA DA CÂMARA Terreiro da Sé 4050-573 Porto GPS: Lat 41.143047 Lon -8.611185 CENTRE Rua Clube dos Fenianos, 25 4000-172 Porto T +351 223 393 472 visitporto@cm-porto.pt GPS: Lat 41.150175 Lon -8.611200

iPoint Campanhã (jun-oct) Campanhã Railway Station Largo da Estação 4300 Porto GPS: Lat 41.148793 Lon -8.585853 iPoint Serralves Rua de D. João de Castro, 210 4150-417 Porto GPS: Lat 41.159697 Lon -8.660039

TOURISM OFFICES

THROUGH

PORTO CITY COUNCIL’S TOURISM DEPARTMENT

PATHWAYS

ARCHITECTURE

PORTO

PORTO FROM ALIADOS TO TRINDADE

FROM ALIADOS TO TRINDADE In this first pathway between Avenida dos Aliados and Largo da Trindade, the mixture of times, styles and architectural influences that coexist and shape the different images of the city is quite clear. In this case, we are talking about, more specifically, Neo-Classicism and Neo-Palladianism of British influence, Beaux-Arts of French influence, and Modernism, international movement. These periods reflect different ways of seeing architecture and important phases of the architecture teaching evolution in the city of Porto, always closely related to Design and Beaux-Arts. Periods/Styles: End of the 19th century: late Neo-Classic; NeoPalladian; 20th century: Beaux-Arts; Modern; Contemporary

Architects: Alberto Pessoa; Alexandre Burmester; Álvaro Siza Vieira; Amoroso Lopes; António Correia da Silva; Arménio Losa; ARS Arquitetos (Fortunato Cabral, Cunha Leão, Morais Soares); Artur Andrade; Baltasar de Castro; Barry Parker; C. de Almeida; Camilo Korrodi; Carlos Cruz Amarante; Carlos Ramos; Cassiano Branco; David Moreira da Silva; Eduardo Martins; Eduardo Souto de Moura; Ernesto Korrodi; Fernando Távora; Francisco Oliveira Ferreira; Hélder Salvado; João Abel Bessa; João Carreira; João Queirós; José Carlos Loureiro; José Marques da Silva; José Teixeira Lopes; Júlio de Brito; Luís Pádua Ramos; Manoel Passos Júnior; Manuel Marques; Mário de Abreu; Nicolau Nazoni; Pedro Ramalho; Porfírio Pardal Monteiro; Rogério de Azevedo; Silva Sardinha; Ventura Terra; Viana de Lima

Way of travel: by foot | Distance: 2km Difficulty: low | Duration: 1:30 Practical advice: Given the city’s irregular topography, we advise you to use comfortable shoes.

WELCOME TO PORTO

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Publisher Porto City Council/Tourism Department Contents Porto City Council/Tourism Department CITAD – Centro de Investigação em Território, Arquitetura e Design das Universidades Lusíada/arq. Rui Sousa Translation Porto City Council/Tourism Department Design Workstation Photographs Porto City Council Culturgest Fernando Mendes Pedro Hotel Intercontinental Porto Digital Legal Deposit 358038/13 Printing Tecniforma Print

In these pathways through Portoâ€™s architecture, we invite you to discover with us some of the most relevant architectural heritage, in a quiet stroll in which you will have time to be seduced by the details, curiosities, environments and experiences.

This pathway starts at the city centre’s Tourism Office, which occupies part of the building of Clube dos Fenianos picture 1, from 1920, by the architect Francisco Oliveira Ferreira (1884-1957). The Club, founded in 1904, is known for once organizing the city’s best carnival parade and is until today an important cultural reference. When leaving the Tourism Office, cross the street. You are currently at Praça General Humberto Delgado, so called in homage to the opponent of the Salazar’s dictatorship, assassinated in 1965 by the political police. In the downward direction, between Praça General Humberto Delgado and Praça da Liberdade, you can see Avenida dos Aliados picture 2. Its plan was requested to the British architect Barry Parker (1867-1947) in 1915, with the purpose of creating a broad avenue, dignifying and representative of the new spirit born with the proclamation of the Republic in 1910, and of the first republican councillorship of the city of

Porto, elected by universal suffrage in 1914. The plan should also include a new City Hall building, creating a counterpoint with Igreja da Trindade, on top, and with Convento dos Lóios located in the former Praça D. Pedro, after Praça da Liberdade, at the bottom, underlining the separation of powers between the Clergy and the State. Barry Parker was asked to create in that area a modern, cosmopolitan civic and commercial centre that reflected the commercial and financial dynamic that had long been concentrating in this area, attracted by the new accessibilities, namely by Luís I bridge, by Téophile Seyrig, inaugurated in 1886, which joined Porto and Gaia on two levels, through the opening of Rua Mouzinho da Silveira in 1872, and through the S. Bento Station, by Marques da Silva, inaugurated in 1909. Barry Parker was inspired in the neo-classic style of João de Almada e Melo’s plan (17031786), Governor of Justice and Appeal of Porto, developed on the second half of the 18th century, period of great transformations thanks to the funds obtained through the tax on wine trade, allowing the Public Works Committee to develop

new urban concepts. The influence of the British colony, through the consul John Whitehead, awakened the desire for broad places, illuminated, functional and favourable to leisure, introducing the neo-Palladianism in the city, a style which would influence the architecture of many civil and religious constructions. Among the streets opened during this period there is one deserving highlight – Rua do Almada picture 3, designed by Francisco Xavier do Rego (1692-1786) and opened between 1761 and 1786. It is worth to admire its façades, many of them covered by tiles that came from the several ceramics factories that existed at the time in Porto and its surroundings, and the detail of its balconies in forged iron. Traditionally a street of ironmongers, it is still possible, after two centuries, to find there a significant concentration of hardware stores, some modernized, and others still maintaining much of the old furniture. You can also find there a manual production chocolate factory, the famous Arcádia, founded in 1933.

In the last decade, a new type of trade and a new generation of “traders”, who focus on different activities, diversifying the offer and rejuvenating the urban centre, have been settling in this street. Returning to Avenida dos Aliados, one can say that the sobriety of Barry Parker’s plan was defeated by the spirit of Beaux-Arts that buzzed in the architects and artists of this period, with a highlight to the architect José Marques da Silva (1869-1947), transforming the Avenue in a small, but monumental “Boulevard”. With a degree in Architecture by the School of Fine Arts of Paris in 1896, Marques da Silva attended the Victor Laloux atelier. In Porto, he was director of the School of Fine Arts between 1913 and 1939 and author of emblematic projects in the city, from the most classic to the most modern, as Casa de Serralves can prove it, today an integral part of the Foundation with the same name. The new avenue received the designation Avenida das Nações Aliadas (Avenue of the Allied Nations), in a tribute to the victory of the

Allies in World War I. Its aesthetic uniformity is a result of the rules determined by the Municipal Architecture Award “Cidade do Porto”, created specifically to the area, which imposed, among other standards, the use of certain construction materials in which the granite should be predominant, a functional typology that would privilege the services with street commerce, with rotary angles and patios, that all corner buildings would finish both façades with dome towers, highlighting from the volume of the other façades, and that all the buildings could be harmonized as a whole with an image that was intended to be “international”. On the top north you can find the building of the City Hall picture 4. Designed by the municipal architect António Correia da Silva, it started to be built in 1920 and was completed only in 1957, after several changes made to the initial project, introduced by Carlos Ramos, who would become the great mentor of the so-called School of Porto. The building is comprised by six floors, a basement and two interior patios. The central

tower is 70 meters high and the access to it is made through a staircase with 180 steps. Inside, richly decorated with marble and granite, we would highlight some of the rooms where the most solemn ceremonies, Municipal Assemblies and Executive Board Meetings are held – Noble Room, D. Maria Room, and Session Chamber. On the outside you can admire the 12 caryatids made by the sculptors Sousa Caldas and Henrique Moreira. The building can be visited on the first Sunday of the month by means of prior registration at the Citizen’s Office (gabinete.municipe@cm-porto.pt). In front of the City Hall you can find the Statue in homage to the poet, writer and politician from Porto Almeida Garrett (1800 – 1854), by the sculptor Barata Feyo, inaugurated in 1954 picture 5. Now go down the Avenue through the central platform so you can have a wider perspective that will allow you to see the buildings from both sides, and then approach the ones that interest you most to see their details.

On the left side of the City Hall, you can see a building with modern lines that marks a break in the aesthetic unity of the avenue. That building, Palácio dos Correios picture 6, from 1952, is a project by Carlos Ramos (1897-1969), who would exercise great influence in the teaching of Architecture at the School of Fine Arts of Porto, as professor and director of the school, a position he occupied from 1952 to 1967, having invited young modern architects to be his assistants. Right after, on the corner of Rua Rodrigues Sampaio, the corner modern building stands out picture 7, from 1954, by Viana de Lima (1913-1991), other important name of Porto’s architecture, the great promoter of Porto’s application to UNESCO’s World Heritage, a classification attributed to the city in 1996. He is also the author of the building of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto, a project from 1961, considered to be a fundamental work to the understanding of Portuguese Modern Architecture.

Continuing through the Avenue’s centre aisle, you can see on your left the Edifício da Companhia de Fiação e Tecidos de Fafe (Building of Fafe’s Textile and Weaving Company) picture 8, by Júlio de Brito (1896-1965), from 1948, with its original tower.

Further below, on the corner with Rua Ramalho Ortigão, the tower of the Edifício Garantia picture 10 stands out, from 1955, by Júlio de Brito.

Comércio do Porto, this building was designed in 1925 by José Marques da Silva, to house the head office of the newspaper Jornal de Notícias picture 12. Avenida dos Aliados was thus affirming itself not only as the centre of trade and business, but also as the central core of the news in the region. Next to Jornal de Notícias, the monumental building of the Bank Caixa Geral de Depósitos picture 13 was built, by Porfírio Pardal Monteiro (1897-1957), the chief architect of that institution, from 1930. Here, you must visit the Gallery Culturgest, on the ground floor, where, besides interesting details about the building, you can enjoy good exhibitions.

Again on the left side, on no. 184, arises the façade of the former private clinic Casa de Saúde da Avenida picture 11, from 1930, a project by Francisco de Oliveira Ferreira, pupil of Marques da Silva. Still on the left side, we call your attention to the building with the numbers 138-168. Virtually in front of the head office of the newspaper

Now looking to the right side, take a good look of the building of Banco do Funchal, former head office of the newspaper Comércio do Porto, on numbers 107-109 picture 14, from 1932, and the façade facing Rua Elísio de Melo with entrance by Rua do Almada, no. 128, of the Garagem do Comércio do Porto (Garage of Comércio do Porto) picture 15, from 1930.

On the right side, on numbers 285-295, you can see the Edifício Capitólio (Capitol Building) picture 9, from 1946, a project by Eduardo Martins and Manoel Passos Júnior.

This notorious example of combination of different aesthetic languages by the same author is of Rogério de Azevedo (1898-1984), student of Marques da Silva at the School of Fine Arts of Porto and, at a later stage, professor at the same school – from 1940 to 1968 – who designed the building facing the Avenue according to the rules of the Municipal Architecture Award “Cidade do Porto”, and who in the project of the garage facing Rua Elísio de Melo and Rua do Almada, gave wings to its Modern architect talent. Go to the corner with Rua do Almada for a closer look at the building of the Garagem do Comércio do Porto, considered to be the paradigm of Modernism in Porto. Being considered at the time a manifest of technological and formal modernity applied to a new plan – a garage –, what turned it into something deeply modern was the denial of decorative exuberance of the dominant eclecticism, which resulted in a building with no ornaments, where the expressiveness was transmitted by the reinforced concrete. Modern were also the concerns here expressed with

safety and hygiene conditions, ventilation and abundant light, as well as with the new sense of space and the modern use of materials. Intended to serve as a garage and offices, these functions can be read from the exterior. From across the street, on no. 89, you can see Café Guarany picture 16, inaugurated in 1933, also by Rogério de Azevedo, with decoration of the sculptor Henrique Moreira. In 2003, Guarany was totally restored, being possible to see in one of the walls paintings of Graça Morais. The two following corner buildings, which deserve a closer look, were designed by José Marques da Silva. On the left side, on no. 2, the building built for the former bank Joaquim Emílio Pinto Leite – picture 17, from 1922, and on the right side of the street, on no. 1, the building built to the former insurance company A Nacional picture 18, from 1919. Both buildings impose between them a pleasant harmony in volume and shape. Get closer to the building on the right side,

no. 1, so you can appraise in detail the perfect sculpture ornaments that highlight the talent of both the architect and the visual artist – Marques da Silva, son of a stonemason. Between both buildings, on the central platform, you can find an allegory of “Juventude” (Youth) picture 19, by the sculptor Henrique Moreira, from 1929, that was a source of active conversations in the conservative society of that time, and was afterwards affectionately called “The girl of the avenue”. Above, you can see the gilded bronze sculpture “The boys” by the same author, from 1932. Now, cross the road towards Praça da Liberdade. In this square you can see that what stands out, in the middle, is the equestrian statue of D. Pedro IV picture 20, by the sculptor Célestin Anatole Calmels, inaugurated in 1866. The base of the monument illustrates two important moments in the history of the city: the disembark in Mindelo of D. Pedro’s troops during the liberal fights (18321833), which opposed the “liberal” followers of

D. Pedro against the “Miguelistas” loyal to D. Miguel, in the fight for the throne that opposed these two brothers, and the presentation of the heart of D. Pedro to the representatives of the city to demonstrate gratitude for their loyalty. The pedestal represents D. Pedro offering the constitutional charter to the City. The heart of D. Pedro is religiously preserved in an urn at the Church of Lapa. The building of the Bank of Portugal picture 21 prevails on the right side of the square. The preliminary draft of 1918, by Ventura Terra (18661919) and José Teixeira Lopes (1872-1919), due to the death of both architects, was finished in 1922 by José Abecassis, having the bank been inaugurated only in 1934. On the pediment above the entrance, you can see the sculptures of Sousa Caldas representing the Promotion, surrounded by Trade and Industry. To finish off the Avenue, on the south you can find Palácio das Cardosas picture 22. The history of the building goes back to the 15th century,

when the Bishop D. João de Azevedo decided to establish in Porto the Convent of Santo Elói for the Secular Canons of S. João Evangelista, most commonly known as Lóios friars. In the end of the 18th century, the state of degradation in which the convent was found led to the start of works in 1798, which were interrupted by the Liberal Fights that imposed the escape of the Religious Order, which supported the Miguelistas, abandoning the Convent with the works unfinished. After the extinction of this religious order, the building was sold at public auction, having been acquired by a wealthy man of the liberal bourgeoisie from Porto – Alberto Cardoso –, who would finish the works started by the religious population. After his death, it became property of his daughters, known as “Cardosas”, being the building popularly called as Palácio das Cardosas. The magnificent building of “Palácio das Cardosas”, which occupies almost the entire block, was already occupied for several activities. Since July 2011, it is now a Hotel of the chain

Intercontinental. The architecture project is by the architect Hélder Salvado, and the interior design is by Alex Kravetz. On the right, in the façade of the ground floor, you can find Farmácia Vitália picture 23, a work from 1932, by Amoroso Lopes (1913-1995) and Manuel Marques (1890-1956), with a façade of modern geometric lines where a cross stands out, which seems to be suspended and from which the entire façade is formed. Also on the ground floor and with straight access from the street, Café Astória picture 24 was reborn on the same place where it had arisen on the first decades of the 20th century. Closed during the 1970s, the café and the entire building were occupied by a bank. We stop here to refer the importance that the “cafés” of Porto had and have to the history of the city, having always been meeting points and, consequently, the leverage for many of the most progressive movements, artistically, politically

and philosophically. On the second half of the 19th century, in the environment of that square which was successively called Praça Nova, Praça D. Pedro and afterwards Praça da Liberdade, there were several cafés characterized by their elegance and for receiving the most emblematic people of Porto. They started to disappear over time, and their spaces were occupied by tertiary services, mostly banking services. An example of a new type of occupation, as a result of the globalization of new consumer habits, is Café Imperial picture 25. Inaugurated in 1935, it was designed by Ernesto Korrodi (18891944) and his son Camilo Korrodi (1905-1985), in Art Deco style, with frescoes of the sculptor Henrique Moreira and a stained glass by Ricardo Leone. By the end of the same century, the café was closed and reopened already as McDonald’s, with an adaptation project made by the architect Alexandre Burmester, who tried to preserve the most of its interior. Right next to the former Café Imperial, you

can find the building of the former bank Banco Nacional Ultramarino picture 26, also by Ernesto Korrodi, from 1920. At Praça da Liberdade, the Pastry Ateneia – a project by Júlio de Brito - still resists the abyss of time, where it is still possible to have a coffee with no hurries while you take a look over the newspaper, being a meeting point of successive generations. The urban and landscape frame of Avenida dos Aliados has not always been like it is now. The initial arrangement – which used the traditional Portuguese pavement, of limestone and basalt, on the sidewalks and on the centre aisle, and the existing gardens also on the centre aisle – was changed in 2005 due to the Metro D line, which would do the long-awaited connection to Gaia, crossing the upper part of the D. Luís bridge. The intervention project, delivered to Álvaro Siza Vieira (1933) and Eduardo Souto de Moura (1952), the latter chief architect of the Metro do Porto

designers, had to provide solutions to some of the technical limitations, namely the location of the entrances of Aliados station, designed by Souto de Moura himself, which involved the extension of the sidewalk, reducing the central area and leading to the disappearance of the flower beds that existed there, being that loss somewhat compensated by the consolidation of trees, by a water mirror and new urban furniture. Given the impossibility of totally preserving the Portuguese pavement, the architects chose a pavement of granite cubes, laid out manually according to a geometric pattern in the shape of a peacock tail, providing a sense of unification and magnitude to the public space. The interventions of urban rehabilitation in the emblematic Avenida dos Aliados will continue in the following years, as the Avenue and the surrounding area were classified by Porto Vivo, SRU – Sociedade de Reabilitação da Baixa Portuense SA (Society for the Rehabilitation of Porto’s City Centre), as a Priority Intervention Area, having been divided into several blocks.

Porto Vivo, SRU aims to promote, rehabilitate and reconvert the urban spaces of Porto’s city centre, to prepare intervention strategies, and to act as mediator between landlords, investors and tenants, assuming, if necessary and within its legal limits, the operation of rehabilitation. The block of Palácio das Cardosas was classified by this entity as a Priority Intervention Area and is already in a late stage of intervention. It is intended that this block is given the importance of other times, reordering its inside and requalifying the security and health aspects, providing it with infrastructures that it does not have, recovering real estate for residential purposes thus contradicting the trend of the city centre’s depopulation and attracting quality diversified trade. You can see panels explaining the history of this area at Praça das Cardosas picture 27, a private area with public access located on the back of the Hotel Intercontinental and above the parking lot.

Now that you have reached the end of the Avenue, turn your back to Palácio das Cardosas and enjoy this new perspective. By staying in the same position, on your left you will see Rua dos Clérigos finished off with the city’s ex-libris – the Church and Tower of Clérigos picture 28, by the Italian architect Nicolau Nazoni (1691-1773), built on the first half of the 18th century. On Palácio das Cardosas right side you can see Praça Almeida Garrett, an important interface of Porto’s urban transports. At this square there are two infrastructures that represent two different periods and Schools as far as architecture is concerned: S. Bento Railway Station picture 29 and S. Bento Metro Station picture 30. The first by José Marques da Silva and the second by Álvaro Siza, two mandatory references of Porto’s Architecture, two different periods, two works that complement each other in functionality, in an encounter of architects also repeated in Serralves (Casa de Serralves by Marques da Silva and Museum of Contemporary Art by Siza Vieira).

The building of S. Bento Railway Station, by José Marques da Silva, whose construction period occurred between 1896 and 1916, owes its name to the fact of having been built on the exact place where once was the Convent of S. Bento de AvéMaria. Still in Paris, Marques da Silva started to work on the project to build this station. His initial proposal was clearly more audacious. The building’s façade would transmit the same language of the platforms, using cast iron and glass. By being denied, a more classic building was designed, with a façade where two towers prevailed and with the inside covered in revivalist tile panels designed by Jorge Colaço. Its monumentality symbolizes well the importance attributed to accessibility and mobility as progress factors, essential to a new and dynamic centrality of the city. On both sides of Praça Almeida Garrett you can find the underground accesses to Metro do Porto D line, which joins Porto and Gaia through the upper part of Luís I bridge, which led to the construction of Infante bridge in 2003, in order

to ensure the flow of traffic that used this bridge to access the city. This line is the one that has the biggest extension of underground tunnel, of about 7 km, crossing the entire city centre. The S. Bento Metro Station by Álvaro Siza Vieira was excavated from the surface, on five levels: the Surface Level, with accesses at Praça Almeida Garrett and Avenida D. Afonso Henriques, the latter imposing the extension of the sidewalks; the High Mezzanine level that connects to the high part of the city, facilitating the access to the areas of Sé and Batalha; the Low Mezzanine level, from which a connection is made between the elevators that communicate with the surface and with platforms 1 and 2; the Platform Level and the Sub-platform Level. The configuration and magnitude of Low Mezzanine are sometimes used to held cultural events, from exhibitions to concerts. The covering is made of handmade tiles from the factory Viúva Lamego, a mixture of eight shades of glass, where you can see here and there, discreetly, drawings by the architect Álvaro Siza.

If you look to Avenida D. Afonso Henriques, the same avenue that gives access to the upper part of Luís I bridge, you will see on top, on the right side, at Sé’s Hill, the austere silhouette of Sé do Porto picture 31, of a Romanesque style, built on the 12th century, but target of many interventions and additions that went on up to the 1940s. In front of it, challenging it, the tower-building of Casa da Câmara picture 32 arises. Originally built on the 15th century for a council meeting place, it comprised thick walls of granite finished off with battlements, was 100 palms high and was divided into two second floors. On the upper floor was the Senate Hall, on the second floor the hearing room and on the ground floor a warehouse. By the end of the 18th century, the building was already in eminent decay, forcing the City Hall to move to other rented spaces, until the acquisition of its own building. In 1875, the building was destroyed by a fire, remaining in ruins until 2000, the year when it was transformed, according to the project of Fernando Távora (1923-2005), in a “memorial to remind long years of life and

history of the city of Porto”. Finished in 2001, the current construction respects the sobriety of the first construction and the 100 palms of height, duly signalled on the outside. “Casa da Câmara” houses, since 2005, a Municipal Tourism Office. Fernando Távora, fundamental name of the architecture of Porto, was one of the founders of ODAM – Organização dos Arquitetos Modernos (Modern Architects Organization), in 1947, and is one of the greatest mentors of the so-called “School of Porto”, having been master and teacher of many and consecrated architects, among them Álvaro Siza. In front of the S. Bento Railway Station you can see another fine example of the Portuguese tilery art on the façade of Igreja dos Congregados. It is from here that you will start the path through Rua Sá da Bandeira, one of the streets that prove best the evolution of the city’s Modern architecture.

Its name is an homage to Bernardo de Sá Nogueira de Figueiredo, Portuguese noble and politician from the period of the constitutional monarchy. The street started to be opened in 1836, making alleys and kitchen gardens disappear and expropriating some factories along the way, and its extension had several phases until 1939, giving place to a great artery of the city, fundamental to distribute the growing traffic and to make it flow. Among the several buildings worthy of interest that you can find on this street, we will only mention some of the most representative. On the right and left sides, right at the beginning of the street, you can find two beautiful buildings markedly of the influence of beaux-arts – picture 33. A little further, on the left side, on no. 15, there is a barber shop that resists the passage of time. Project of Manuel Marques, from 1929, the old Barbearia Tinoco picture 34, still keeps most of the original furniture.

On the same side, on no. 21, the façade of the building Hotel Peninsular picture 35 stands out. Almost in front of it, on the right side, on no. 56, you can notice the unusual detail of the scallop shells of St. James decorating the roof of a building picture 36. A little bit further, on no. 84, the Hotel Teatro inaugurated in 2010, a project by Nini de Andrade e Silva and Miguel Brito Nogueira, arises on the same place of the former Teatro Baquet. Inaugurated in 1859, it was stage of several plays and operettas, a popular genre very much appreciated by the audience of that time. But on the night of 20th March 1888, during the presentation of an opera comique that filled the entire theatre, a violent fire started that caused the death of more than one hundred people and destroyed it completely. Subsequently, its space was occupied first by some big department stores, the “Hermínios” and afterwards by a subsidiary of Companhia União Fabril.

In front of the former theatre, on the corner of Rua Sá da Bandeira with Rua do Bonjardim you can see the building of the café A Brasileira – picture 37, designed by Francisco de Oliveira Ferreira in 1915. “A Brasileira” stands out for its façade, in which protrudes a sunshade of iron and glass from 1916, and once, thanks to its refined interior where the crystals, marbles and furniture of leather prevailed, it was one of the preferred cafés of the city. The café shop “A Brasileira” opened in 1903, being property of Adriano Teles, an emigrant that returned from Minas Gerais, Brazil, where he dedicated himself to the coffee business. Focused on disseminating his brand and to stimulate the habit of having coffee, he carried out an interesting marketing scheme, offering a cup of coffee to everyone who bought coffee beans. Also interesting was the advertisement with the famous sentence “O melhor café é o d’ A Brasileira” (The best coffee is the one from A Brasileira), formed by tiles placed in strategic passageways and printed in cups that many of our grandmothers still have and that today are of particular interest to collectors.

The success of sales lead to the enlargement of the facilities by the acquisition of the adjacent buildings and opening the café “A Brasileira” that was thus separated from the shop. After Porto, Adriano Teles opened “A Brasileira” of Lisbon, in Chiado, in 1905, and “A Brasileira” of Braga, in 1907.

Ahead, Palácio Atlântico picture 40, from 1950, with the project of ARS Arquitectos (architects Fortunato Cabral, Cunha Leão and Morais Soares), decorated with artistic panels of polychrome mosaics by Jorge Barradas, built to be the head office of the former Banco Português do Atlântico of António Cupertino de Miranda.

Now turn left, to Rua do Bonjardim. Besides the restaurant A Regaleira, birthplace of the typical sandwich “Francesinha”, one can see on no. 105 the Cardoso Cabeleireiros picture 38, a shop that produces and trades wigs since 1906.

On the right, the building that in 1945 was the highest one in Portugal, by Rogério de Azevedo (1898-1984) and Baltasar de Castro (1891-1967), the famous Rialto picture 41.

Right after, you will arrive at Praça D. João I, where you can find several important buildings of the Modern architecture of Porto. On the left, Teatro Rivoli picture 39, with a project of Júlio de Brito and friezes by the sculptor Henrique Moreira, from 1932 and subsequently remodelled in 1997 by Pedro Ramalho (1937).

The vigorous sculptures on the sides of the Square are remarkable – the “Corcéis”, by the sculptor João Fragoso, from 1954. Leaving Praça D. João I behind, once again towards Rua Sá da Bandeira, cross to Rua Passos Manuel and go up through the left side so you can better appreciate the buildings that follow. On no. 44, you can find the head office of Clube Ateneu Comercial do Porto picture 42, founded in 1869. Occupying these facilities since 1885, it

has a library with a collection of more than 40,000 titles and 80,000 tomes, among which we must highlight the facsimile first edition of Lusíadas, by Luís de Camões, from 1572. Up above, on the corner with Rua de Santa Catarina, you can find the former store Armazéns Nascimento picture 43, by the architect Marques da Silva, from 1914. Subsequently, the building would be converted into a Café, the famous Palladium, frequented by wealthy traders. The successive occupations that the building has been experiencing since its construction have substantially changed its interior.

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Straight ahead, on the corner of Rua Santa Catarina with Rua Passos Manuel, the building of the former Casa Inglesa picture 44 arises, project of Francisco de Oliveira Ferreira, from 1923. Now go to the right, towards Rua 31 de Janeiro. On the corner of Rua de Santa Catarina with Rua 31 de Janeiro you can see on your right side the façade of the former jewellery Ourivesaria Reis & Filhos picture 45, which is now a fashion shop. Notice the façade and the detail of the painted ceiling. The author of the architecture project was the architect José Teixeira Lopes (18721919), with the cooperation of his brother, the sculptor António Teixeira Lopes. Ahead, one of the most ancient bookstores in the city, Latina picture 46, recently remodelled. On the top of Rua 31 de Janeiro, on the left, raises the Church of Santo Ildefonso picture 47, built between 1730 and 1737. On its inside you can admire the woodwork of Nicolau Nazoni, also an architect of great importance in the city. The tiles of the façade are from Jorge Colaço.

By looking ahead, you can see the façades of two emblematic buildings of the city: the former Café and Cinema Águia D’Ouro picture 48 and the Cinema Batalha picture 49. The first one is from 1839, having been remodelled in 1931. In 1989, the cinema was closed and, ultimately, abandoned, having recently been subject to intervention which, by preserving the façade, gave rise to the B&B hotel. Right next to it, awaiting its recovery, you can find Cinema Batalha, designed by the architect Artur Andrade, from 1946. The architect (1913-2005) was a founding member of ODAM (Organização dos Arquitectos Modernos – Modern Architects Organization) and this work is an important sign of a new modern generation. In the 1940s, the cinemas were seen as symbols of modernity and prestige, spaces of reference in the city and, therefore, the use of a modern formal language was seen as almost a natural consequence. The building is organized around a room, around which all the remaining spaces function, namely wide foyers, illuminated by the big windows of the façade. At the time,

two visual artists cooperated with Artur Andrade – Júlio Pomar with neo-realist frescoes and A. Braga with a bas-relief on the façade. In the case of Pomar, the censorship ordered its destruction, and in the case of A. Braga, it ordered the change of the representation (a hammer and sickle were removed). Further ahead, at Praça da Batalha, you can see the yellow ochre façade of São João National Theatre picture 50. The Real Teatro de São João was built according to the project of the Italian architect and scenographer Vincenzo Mazzoneschi and inaugurated officially on 13th May 1798. Destroyed by a fire in 1908, José Marques da Silva was responsible for its reconstruction, this time made through the use of concrete in the structure, but keeping in the decorative style the French inspiration, so characteristic at that time. Inaugurated in 1920, the building was decaying until it was acquired by the State in 1992, and in 1993, the process of restoration, remodelling and refurbishment was given to the architect João

Carreira. In 2012, it was reclassified as National Monument.

Currently, on the fourth floor, there is a multipurpose space of culture and leisure.

The Teatro Nacional São João can be visited every Saturday, at 12:00 p.m., by means of prior reservation until 6:00 p.m. of the previous Friday, through rp@tnsj.pt.

Straight ahead, at no. 137, another icon of Modernism, the Coliseu do Porto picture 52, a project of Cassiano Branco (1897-1970), Júlio de Brito (1896-1965) and Mário de Abreu, from 1941. A work by the architect Cassiano Branco, but with the intervention of other architects, mainly of Mário Abreu, the Coliseu is considered an emblematic work of the Portuguese modernism’s first generation. Known mainly as a theatre, the Coliseu was also used as a cinema room and for other cultural events, along with spaces for offices. The inside of the room and the elevation, where a tower of 42 metres stands out, give the work an expressionist shape that emphasizes the spectacular sense of architecture, making every sense, given that this is a building intended to show business. The use of rich and luxurious materials as marbles, stucco, copper and forged iron denote influences of Art Deco in Cassiano Branco and grant magnificence to the environment.

Now go a little further back, again towards Rua Passos Manuel and, at the crossroad, turn right. There, face-to-face, are two icons of Modernism in Porto: the Coliseu do Porto and Garagem Passos Manuel. At no. 178, you can find the Garagem Passos Manuel picture 51, a project by the Architect Mário de Abreu, from 1930. The lower floors are meant for parking, with a floor for offices above organized around patios, and finally a floor for housing. It also included the commercial premises destined to a sales stand, barber shop, café and a shoeshine stand. It is important to refer the use of neon as innovative decorative element, in this case in the shape of the map of Portugal, set on a glass surface.

Unfortunately, the integral project would not be concluded due to the withdrawal of the architect for having issues with the contractor. The Coliseu do Porto still houses the space Cinema Passos Manuel, now with versatile functions. Going down Rua Passos Manuel to the crossroad with Rua Santa Catarina, you will find on the right side the famous Café Majestic picture 53, project by the Architect João Queirós. Inaugurated in 1921 under the name Café Elite, it would take the name that still identifies it today in 1922. It was frequented by the city’s elite and was the meeting place of traders, artists, men of letters and ladies of the society. From the 1960s to the 1980s, the café was decaying, until it was decreed public interest monument and cultural heritage in 1983, the year when it was acquired by the current owner, who proceeded with its strict restoration, giving it back the enchantment from other times.

Right next to the café is Casa Alvão, one of the city’s most ancient photography shops, open in the same place since 1901. Continuing into Rua Santa Catarina, at no. 200, look up a little to see the detail of the tiles advertising the former Grande Bazar do Porto picture 54. Right ahead, at no. 197, you can find one of the most ancient hotels of the city, the Grande Hotel do Porto picture 55, by the Architect Silva Sardinha (1845-1906), from 1880, of Victorian inspiration, ornamented by a small and beautiful sunshade made of glass and iron. The hotel has been renewed since 2008 by the studio Cremascoli, Okumura, Rodrigues Arquitectos, with interior design by Fernando Marques de Oliveira. Now turning left to Rua Formosa, notice the tiles that decorate the façade of the grocer’s shop Pérola do Bolhão picture 56, founded in 1917 and one of the most traditional trade shops you will find in this area around Mercado do Bolhão.

Now cross to the other side of the street and go to Rua Alexandre Braga.

once in its premises a fountain with the name “Fonte do Bolhão”.

Take some time to notice, on the top of the building of the corner with Rua Formosa, the beautiful viewpoint in forged iron picture 57.

The project of the Architect Correia da Silva, built between 1914 and 1917, occupies the entire block, having been developed around a fountain with four water outlets, with two floors connected by several stairways, around a central patio subdivided into two exterior spaces through a covered gallery, from the 1940s. On the outside, the building houses several shops, facing the four streets that delimit it: Fernandes Tomás, to the north, Alexandre Braga, to the east, Formosa, to the south, and Sá da Bandeira to the west. The towers that finish off the corners denote an influence of Beaux-Arts, and the pediment facing Rua Formosa is decorated with sculptures representing the Trade and Agriculture. Classified as public interest monument in 2006, it is waiting for recovery works.

Further above, at no. 94, you can see one more project by the Architect Marques da Silva, from 1928. The detail of the architect’s signature stands out picture 58 on the façade of the building. By crossing the street you will find the entrance to the Bolhão Metro Station picture 59 designed by Eduardo Souto de Moura, where you can see the panel of tiles by Júlio Resende (19172011) (we strongly suggest you to visit Lugar do Desenho, dedicated to the work of the Master, in Gondomar), inspired in the experience of the Market and of its sellers. It is now time to go inside the Bolhão Market picture 60, which owes its name to the fact of being based on a water spring and having had

When leaving the market, you can look at Rua Sá da Bandeira and observe the interesting details

56 57

of tiles and forged iron on doors and balconies, some revealing influence of Art Nouveau, and you can also see traditional trade shops. Go up Rua Sá da Bandeira. When arriving at the crossroad between Rua Sá da Bandeira and Rua Fernandes Tomás, you will see, on the left side, the building named Palácio do Comércio picture 61 that occupies the entire block. A project from 1941, by David Moreira da Silva, Marques da Silva son-in-law. A building of great magnificence, in which stand out, among other details, the arched glasses imported for this end from Belgium, set in a framework made of bronze, and the tower that finishes off the corner of Rua Sá da Bandeira with Rua Fernandes Tomás. The group of sculptures that ornaments the façade facing Rua Sá da Bandeira also stands out. Continuing to go up Rua Sá da Bandeira, on the left side, at no. 633/673, you will find the Building DKW/ENEDA picture 62, designed by Arménio Losa (1908-1988) and Cassiano Barbosa (1897-

1970) in 1951, meant to be a garage, trade shops, offices and housing. The garage occupies all the area of the property in two overlapping pavements and the trade shops occupy the pavement on the street level. The compartments/offices can be grouped and ungrouped creating spaces of different dimensions according to the needs, denoting a modern shape of conception of the spaces adapted to new lifestyles. Besides the interesting distribution of volumes, the visor at the entrance and the spiral staircase inside are also characteristics that should be noticed.

Ahead, on the left side, arises the tower of Hotel D. Henrique picture 64.

Now, turn left at Rua Guedes de Azevedo. Here you are faced, on your right, with the unique image of the small church of Fradelos, from the 19th century, having as background the great spiral structure of evident reinforced concrete that constitutes the Silo-Auto picture 63, a project from 1964, by the Architects Alberto Pessoa (1919-1985) and João Abel Bessa, intended to solve the parking problems observed at the time.

Continuing through Rua Guedes de Azevedo, turn left to Rua do Bonjardim, the old road to Guimarães.

Designed by the Architects C. de Almeida, José Carlos Loureiro (1925) and Luís Pádua Ramos (1931-2005) in the 1960s, primarily for offices, it was adapted to be a hotel already during the phase of its construction. The project is completed by a commercial gallery with direct accesses by the streets of Bolhão and Bonjardim, with inside gardens. The Hotel has a panoramic restaurant on the 17th floor, differentiated on the outside by the existence of a brise soleil.

On the first street on the right, you will also see on the right the Trindade Metro Station picture 65, designed by the Architect Souto de Moura in 1996. All the metro lines cross in this station, and the access to line D, which connects Porto and Gaia, is made through the underground platform. Cross Rua da Trindade. You can take the opportunity to visit the Church of Trindade picture 66, of neo-classic style, built during the 19th century, according to the project of the architect Carlos Cruz Amarante. In front of the church, the back of the building of the City Hall appears, in a more sober and unpretentious way. Thus, you come to the end of this pathway which we hope awoke in you the will of rambling through other streets, other areas, discovering the history and the stories the city hides, only waiting for one look from you to reveal them.

Notes:

Architecture Porto - Aliados

Published on Sep 19, 2013

In these pathways through Porto’s architecture, we invite you to discover with us some of the most relevant architectural heritage, in a qui...

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