Porto has a highly specific urban character that is unlike any other city. A dense and historic fabric set on an often impossibly steep hillside, Porto is a unique mix of old and new, seaside and agricultural, industrial and residential. The architecture of Porto is readily described through natural, simple volumes that are often rendered complex via the articulation of building openings and rich textures provided by terracotta or clay tile roofing, iron balustrades and ceramic cladding. Porto is both a center for architectural production and thought, home to the influential Faculty of Architecture at the University of Porto, where many local architects have both studied and taught. Porto’s architecture studios work primarily within Portugal, though some offices have considerable international reach. The specific contribution of the current generation of architecture practices to design innovation stems from contextual thinking and a strong sense of materiality. Selected here are 25 excellent architecture firms operating out of Porto and its surrounding cities today:
1. SUMMARY
SUMMARY is an architectural studio based in the Science and Technology Park of University of Porto. Seeking the balance between pragmatism and experimentalism, SUMMARY develops building systems assuming the optimization of time and physical resources as the core theme of its practice. Its projects have become well known for experimentation with prefabrication. It’s portfolio includes works such as Paradinha - 11 cabins in the woods, which consists of a series of prefabricated structures of various modules and ranging in size from 28 to 58 sqm, distributed around a remote and hilly plot in northern Portugal.
2. fala atelier
fala atelier is an architecture practice based in Porto and led by Filipe Magalhães, Ana Luisa Soares and Ahmed Belkhodja. Its founders hail from the practices of Harry Gugger in Basel and Atelier Bow-Wow, SANAA, Sou Fujimoto and Toyo Ito in Tokyo. The practice’s wide-ranging and eclectic portfolio includes a long list of projects in Porto, as well as across Portugal and abroad - for example, the Serralves’ Pavilion, a cubic wooden art gallery, which was installed on a sloped garden site in Brazil, designed as a temporary space for the 32nd São Paulo Biennial.
Eduardo Souto de Moura is no small name in the world of architecture. Recognized for his projects around the world which experiment with bold volumes integrated with the landscape, Souto de Moura was the laureate of the 2011 Pritzker Prize. His office is based in Porto, the city in which he was born, and he is a Professor at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Porto, where he studied. His work includes several residential projects as well as public and cultural works such as the Estádio Municipal de Braga and the Burgo Tower in Porto. Souto de Moura’s well-known Casa das Histórias Paula Rego, a museum in Cascais, Lisbon, was designed to house the works of the artist Paula Rego, and features two pyramid-shaped towers and a structural shell of red-colored concrete.
4. AND-RÉ
AND-RÉ is a multidisciplinary young Portuguese based office, dedicated to the study, research and practice of architecture, design and art. It approaches projects with a fresh spirit, innovative methods and open-minded personality. Its portfolio of completed projects includes Vigário House, which features a series of crisp, cubic volumes clad in dark gray and which perform as a neutral extension to the stone ruins on its grassy site in Paredes, Portugal.
5. A2OFFICE
A2OFFICE is made up of a team of creative professionals dedicated to projects of architecture, design and decoration, with activity focused both on new-build projects as well as those of rehabilitation and remodeling. The atelier has internal collaborators and external partners with whom it seeks to respond to clients’ various requests and challenges. Its portfolio of residential and commercial projects includes São Roque Restaurant in the city of Vila do Conde, which features a series of wooden slatted walls and ceilings, endowing the interiors with a warm and textured set of surfaces.
6. FAHR 021.3
FAHR 021.3 is a collaborative practice that focuses on work that merges art and architecture. FAHR aims to create unexpected and provocative environments through experimentation with new concepts. After working in international offices, Filipa Frois Almeida and Hugo Reis returned to Portugal to start the project FAHR in 2012. Its experimental, innovative and daring language seeks to breach reality. Its projects include Loop, a curvilinear concrete garden structure realized for the Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto.
Tiago do Vale Arquitectos is a small, specialized and international office founded in 2008 and led by Tiago do Vale. The team has focused on teaching, health and tourism facilities, and has also completed projects of urban rehabilitation and building preservation, restoration and reconstruction. The studio’s designs revolve around light, well-being, function, cultural context and meaning, shapes and textures, ergonomics and the human scale. It aims to realize clear architecture that tells a recognizable story.
8. NOARQ
NOARQ bases its practice on ‘attention, reflection and response’. Founded by the architect José Carlos Nunes de Oliveira in 1998, the studio evolved into a practice that combines research with creation and production by drawing: for the land, architecture and everyday objects. Its projects include ED & JO House, the partial demolition and rebuilding of a residence in Famalicao, Portugal, which features a massive, triangular and sculptural white volume that responds to the shape of its site, which it seemingly floats above.
9. Barbosa & Guimarães Architects
Barbosa & Guimarães Architects develops projects ranging from public procurement contracts, to educational buildings, health centers, sports facilities, cultural facilities, institutional buildings, urban design, private residential buildings, commercial facilities and offices. Its projects are developed in a comprehensive way, emphasizing the details of all building elements.
10. spaceworkers
spaceworkers is an architecture and design studio, founded by Henrique Marques, Rui Dinis and Carla Duarte. The studio bases its practice on the exploration and constant search of new paradigms of contemporary architecture in order to achieve a close relation between forms and emotions. Its projects include the Interpretation Centre of Romanesque, a building set on a public square in Porto; it consists of a series of austere volumes housing exhibition spaces, each with different heights and dimensions to demonstrate the diversity of Romanesque buildings.
11. Carvalho Araújo
Headquartered in Braga, Portugal and São Paulo, Brazil, Carvalho Araújo is committed to the search and reflection of different approaches in the fields of architecture, product design and creative direction, always seeking to combine design with strategy. The studio’s projects and products are characterized by elegance and forms that emphasize the quality of design, proportions and materials. Its projects include Casa na Caniçada, a residence of three levels on a wooded site. This building features stacked private programs above social programs, and a ground floor that opens up to the site as an invitation to enjoy the surrounding nature.
Paulo Martins Arq&Design is a studio that carefully considers project sites, their environmental contexts and requirements, as well as the expectations of the final users, to craft high-value architectural experiences. The office is led by the architect Paulo Martins. His studio has completed projects such as GR House, a residence featuring an oversized cantilevered roof set on an assembly of planar walls.
Ventura + Partners is a company dedicated to developing architecture, urbanism and design projects worldwide since 1994. It has completed projects of various scales ranging in typology from commercial and corporate, to residential, hospitality, industrial, healthcare, mobility and urban space. Combining a solid experience with ongoing research and innovation, the studio is committed to pursuing integrated and sustainable solutions through strategic planning. Its mission is to improve people’s lives through architecture, allowing meaningful interactions between them and their surroundings.
14. José Fernando Gonçalves – JFCG
JFCG is a studio that focuses on residential, commercial and urban projects. It is led by José Fernando Gonçalves, a licensed architect that completed a PhD from UPC, Barcelona, and founding member of AEAULP – Association of Portuguese Language Schools of Architecture and Urbanism. His scientific articles, books and works have been published in national and international journals and he has participated in conferences and workshops in Portugal and abroad. The studio’s projects include House G, a residence articulated by stacked volumes of concrete clad in fiber-cement panels and glass surfaces.
15. Correia/Ragazzi Arquitectos
Correia/Ragazzi Arquitectos pursues quality through innovation and rigor, and the studio operates on the belief that architecture is a process of synthesis which embodies material and immaterial factors, such as the interpretation of a site, the identification of scale, the use of materials and the correct constructive systems. Each of its works is unique and reflective of its particular client. The studio’s projects include Melgaço Alvarinho Houses, a series of rural agricultural and tourism accommodations which consists of new homes clad in clean, expressive contemporary materials, set amidst and responding to stone ruins.
Nuno Brandão Costa was born in Porto in 1970. He graduated from FAUP and trained with Herzog & de Meuron in Basel, Switzerland and with José Fernando Gonçalves and Paulo Providencia in Porto. In 1998, after winning prizes for projects such as the Portuguese Embassy in Berlin, he opened his office. His work covers a considerable diversity of scales and programs, and recent projects include the construction of the Campanhã Bus Terminal and the rehabilitation and expansion of the São João de Deus social housing neighborhood, both in Porto.
17. depA [departamento Arquitectura]
Founded in Porto, depA is a collective and a space for architectural creation and discussion. depA has developed a wide array of projects, both public and private. The studio has also completed research through participation in numerous international competitions. In this context, it has won first prize for the design of the future Santiago Ydáñez Museum of Contemporary Art in Jaén, Spain, and the first prize of the public competition for the design of new pedestrian paths linking the riverside in Porto with the city’s uptown.
18. merooficina
merooficina is a Porto-based office, founded by Catarina Ribeiro and Vitório Leite. The studio’s namesake draws from the word ‘mero’ which stands for a pure and simple, essential element. Its projects include Casasdo Capitão, a residential and commercial building in the hilly town of Guimarães in northern portugal. This extension of an existing building allowed for the creation of large green collective outdoor spaces and patios that blend the new construction with the existing agriculture slope.
Cannatá & Fernandes was founded in 2000 by Fatima Fernandes and Michele Cannatà, who have worked together since 1984. The studio develops projects of architecture, planning and urban design, graphic design and engineering services. It also works on books, exhibitions and international architecture seminars. Its built projects include Landscape Laboratory, the rehabilitation and extension of a laboratory alongside a river and within a protected region near the historic city center of Guimarães.
dEMM architecture focuses on questioning different perspectives of living. It considers the synchronization of contemporary needs with the intentions of a home’s inhabitants, the relationship of a home with its surrounding environment, the use of natural resources, as well as an efficient exploitation of the site characteristics. The studio has experience in developing large residential complexes and exploring commercial value through design. Its portfolio includes Living Foz, an apartment building located near to Porto's seaside, composed of 40 apartments distributed over 7 floors, and with a form that articulates its residential units through generous angled balconies.
21. Menos e Mais Arquitectos Associados
Menos é Mais Arquitectos was founded in Porto in 1994 by Cristina Guedes and Francisco Vieira de Campos, after the pair had gained experience working with Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura. Its projects include Loivo House, a compact stone volume built facing the Minho River in northern Portugal, on a site fragmented by stepping granite walls.
André Tavares Arquitecto is an architecture studio based in Porto established by André Eduardo Tavares. The studio's portfolio reflects a diversity of programs and scales, ranging from residential buildings to educational, office, commercial and public buildings. The practice has been recognized through exhibitions, conferences, publications and prize nominations, such as the nomination for EU Mies Award in 2017. The office's built projects include Casa de Campo em Pontemieiro, a white-painted home constructed of stone masonry and inserted within a small rural settlement near the Arões river in Portugal.
Highly motivated by its personal motto of ‘Us is More’, the studio’s main concern is to create spaces that positively stimulate users’ homeostatic levels. This is a concern based on the notion that humans are the product of millions of years of evolution, that the speed imposed on us in the last hundred and fifty years has trapped our bodies in a new reality dominated by architecture for which we are not prepared, and that architects are thus obligated to adapt external spaces to our bodies.
24. LIKEarchitects
LIKEarchitects is a Portuguese-based multidisciplinary office led by Diogo Aguiar and João Jesus that focuses on art and architecture, specializing in temporary interventions, urban provocative structures and innovative architectural systems. Ephemeral installations are the studio’s primary medium, as it designs spatial and material experiences, fostering a new speech in architectural practice, associating unique thinking with efficient creation. LIKEarchitects’ work has been recognized internationally, and published in magazines such as Domus, Blueprint and Le Moniteur Architecture.
25. AZO. Sequeira Arquitectos Associados Lda
AZO Sequeira Architects Associates is a full‐service architecture and planning studio with experience in project development, details and management. The studio has completed projects ranging in type from health, industrial and service industry works, to housing, hotels and retail. Its projects are both national and international, and its team is composed of architects dedicated to rendering, so clients can be active participants through a project’s development. The studio focuses on creative projects that, through integration, also become pure and functional works of art.
The selection curated by the Archello editorial team is based on a combination of the amount of featured projects and the views they generated.
