I'm not usually a big fan of tiles being used on a facade (which would lead to the question of the wisdom of travelling to Porto to look at architecture), but in this case I really liked it, mostly due to the (intended) imperfection of how it was laid. The resulting texture was great, due in part to the shadows which the individual tiles cast.

Tags:   2013.05.13 porto oporto architecture architektur modern wave facade fassade balkon fliesen tiles siza housing undulating

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Fundacio de Serralves
Porto, Portugal
Alvaro Siza Viera, Architect, 1991-1999

Tags:   2013.05.13 alvaro siza serralves museum fundacio porto oporto architecture modern contemporary entrance eingang tor gate viera

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Fundacio de Serralves
Porto, Portugal
Alvaro Siza Viera, Architect, 1991-1999

I don't seem to be getting more than 10 meters or so between shots.....this could take until the end of the year.

Tags:   2013.05.13 alvaro siza rivera porto portugal oporto serravles museum contemporary art kunst light shadows licht schatten entry eingang hof courtyard putz stucco black white schwartz weiss

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Casa da Musica
Porto, Portugal
Rem Koolhaas and Ellen van Loon, architects, 1999-2005

Tags:   2013.05.13 rem koolhaas porto oporto portugal casa da musica oma beton concrete brut exterior

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Fundacio de Serralves
Porto, Portugal
Alvaro Siza Viera, Architect, 1991-1999

As it turned out, the thin wall set within the volume of the atrium was only temporary and was part of the installation with the mobile stair. The other side was completely covered with a mirror so that one could observe onesself while one listened to music on headphones while standing at the top of the stair. The back side was much more interesting as it created a nice space with great light.

I could not really grasp the hype over Siza from just seeing images of the buildings in print or online and by visiting the 'Tristesse' building in Berlin once. Although I can now say that I think I better understand his approach and thought process as well as appreciating his use of light and fine sense of detailing, I found much of his architecture to have a very cold, sterile feeling about it. This may be partly due to the reduced palatte of materials as well as his choice thereof. There are also a number of design-respones which must simply come from artistic freedom (which is fine), but they seem so random that I can't even begin to be able to explain to myself where they came from.

His treatment of stairs however--like this one-was consistently appealing to me.

Tags:   2013.05.13 serralves alvaro siza rivera contemporary art kunst interior foyer eingang entry hall skylight installation porto oporto portugal

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