AIA CONTINENTAL EUROPE SPRING 2022 CONFERENCE / Porto – Transitions
Fiona Mckay
Photo Credit; R D Reber AIA
This year’s AIA Continental Europe’s Spring Conference held in Porto, Portugal, 22-25 April, re-activated - after the unwelcome hiatus of the last two Covid-blighted years – that Chapter’s long tradition of successful, semi-annual events. If you are not aware of AIA CE’s conferences but are looking for a user-friendly way to earn significant Continuing Education credits while indulging in a European city break, look them up on AIA CE’s website HERE. These international conferences are a bargain, and AIA UK members are always welcomed.
Porto – like so many other cities – has had municipal challenges facing up to 21st century demands. This conference concentrated on ‘transitions’ toward the future via dynamic, often times iconic new structures. Rest assured, however, the hilly, winding, divinely chaotic charm of the UNESCO listed city still retains its essential character – apparently without undue trauma or destruction - as it slowly transforms itself.
Continental Chapter conferences follow a loose format of city tours, lectures, panel discussions, video presentations and building tours - all intermixed with frequent breaks for social networking. A few of the sites visited are highlighted in the list below; others are included in the slide show at the end of the article.
School of Architecture (Álvaro Siza Viera)
Guided tour of the Casa da Música (Rem Koolhaas – OMA)
The ‘shoe box’ concert hall – which encourages the best acoustics - was surrounded by a series of individual spaces of varying temperaments – from traditional to psychedelic. Many of the attendees were enthralled by this rectilinear building, while a few gave it a cool reception. In either case, it made a dramatic setting for the conference sit-down dinner, enjoyed by all.
Photo Credit: Casa Música from OMA Website
Outside view of the Casa de Chá da Boa Nova (Álvaro Siza Vieira)
Guided tour of the Ilha da Bela Vista site (the Cerejeira Fontes brothers)
The Ilhas are ‘islands’ of worker’s housing within traditional neighbourhoods. Often lacking basic amenities, they have been falling out of favour with locals and city planners. The architects successfully re-built Bela Vista after detailed and constructive interaction with the tenants. Tenants – several allowed access to their interiors - and attendees alike fully approved of the re-designed houses, including simple features such as the outdoor blinds and work benches.
Photo Credit: Ilha da Bela Vista by Lorraine King, AIA
Guided tour of the Leixões Cruise Ship Terminal (Luís Pedro Silva)
Surprisingly, those attendees who had been enthralled with the rectilinear Casa Música were not necessarily the same ones enamoured of the curvilinear Terminal and its textured surfaces. Both iconic projects provoked mixed, but basically positive reactions. The circular plan worked well as a cruise ship terminal; less well for the marine research laboratories shoehorned in after the original retail brief was changed.
Photo Credit: Leixões Cruise Ship Terminal by Lorraine King, AIA
Presentation and outside view of Vodafone Porto Headquarters (Barbosa & Guimarães)
This building’s structural façade managed to be curvilinear – well, facetted at least - and rectilinear at the same time but it did not engender as strong an emotion as the earlier icons. Unfortunately, access to the interiors for a more intimate inspection was not possible on a Sunday morning
Photo Credit: Barbosa Guimaraes Website.
Tour and presentation of the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art (Alvaro Siza Vieira), the Manuel de Oliveira's House of Cinema, the Treetop Walk, Serralves Villa and Gardens.
Walking tour through the Passadiço das Ondas seaside promenade (Solá Morales) up to the Passeio Alegre Gardens
Guided tour of the Museu Côa Parque (Camilo Rebelo|Tiago Pimentel)
Replete with acute angles at every possible turning, the museum was built, not to sit on top of the site nor buried under it (as museums of prehistoric art – ‘caveman art’ - often are), but to sit – unpretentiously - within the site. The attendees on the Monday Extension day relaxed over a long lunch with vistas over the Douro valley wine growing region as a constant reminder of the world heritage landscape.
Photo Credit: Lorraine King AIA
Guided tour of the (Pocinho's Centre for High Performance Rowing (Álvaro Fernandes Andrade)
This building was neither curvilinear or rectilinear, just linear - which at first stumped the attendees as they negotiated the seemingly endless connecting corridor between the admin and training/residential elements of this acclaimed sports centre. But it became apparent that the shape was in fact well adapted to the hillside location, giving the superbly maintained building an unobtrusive low profile.
Photo Credit: Pocinho Centre Website
Photo Credit: R D Reber AIA
The next Continental Europe conference will be held between 29 Sep to 2 Oct in London – a conference being jointly organised by the AIA CE and UK Chapters along with support from the International Region. More information will be forthcoming in future communications.
The slideshow pictures below were taken by attendees Lorraine King AIA and R D Reber AIA. They offer a mere tantalising glimpse of conference sites and city views.
Written by: Lorraine King, AIA
