READY FOR 2013

So the world hasn't ended and here we are again, getting ready for 2013!

Detail of Raul Xavier's Sculpture, Monument to Nuno Álvares Pereira, 1957
Fundação Batalha de Aljubarrota, Batalha

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

PATH TO THE VESTRY

Church of Nossa Senhora da Nazaré

Porto

A view of our town, looking towards the Cathedral. In the foreground, one of the ubiquitous skylights which populate it.

ENGRAVING AND GILDING SIGNS

This golden shop window really showcases what they did best, and what can still be seen over many doors in downtown Porto - beautiful gilt lettering over glass, advertising for goods.

WOBBLY CHURCH

 Since we love all that is wobbly, here is a church which looks like a pudding in stone. The photo wasn't altered in any way. The columns on the right-hand side are veering towards the right - but it's all stable, like a giant frozen jelly. Apparently the deformation was caused by the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755, but it's the main church at Vila Nova de Foz Côa, some 400 km away. Go figure.
The exterior is great too, as well as the ceiling which will get its own post.

WITH OUR THOUGHTS IN COVILHÃ

We are doing some preliminary designs for a substantial traditional building in the nearby area, and came across this image for inspiration. It's the steeple of the Misericórdia church in Covilhã. The church was allegedly built in 1601 but the steeple is from the 1940s! Probably designed by the same people who did the surrounding buildings, a feast of Fascist Baroque which would have made de Chirico's day - soon we will get to process the images for your viewing enjoyment.
As for the steeple, although the detailing is a little coarse and mechanical, its composition and proportions are lovely and add a wonderful touch of fantasy to the otherwise dull Plain Architecture temple.

SOMETHING SIMPLER

and not so wobbly.
Arquivo Histórico Municipal, Tavira

MORE WOBBLY WOOD DOORS

Arquivo Histórico Municipal, Tavira

MODERN WAREHOUSE

Cacela Velha, Praia da Fábrica, Faro

On site - painting the office

Traditional pigments to mix in the paint, for a final color that we still don't quite know. Bought right at our doorstep, in Porto, on an old street known also for its prostitutes!

PORTUGUESE FRENCH DUTCH DOOR

Private House, Tavira.
The seams over the bottom panels tell us the door leaves open independently, like a Dutch door with a French door look. The bottom panels are simple flat beads, and the glazing bars are profiled like tiny balusters. A vertical beadboard shutter is visible in the transom. Tavira is great!

XVIII CENTURY TILES

Antiques Store, Faro

On site - Covilhã

The center is a de Chrico dream, this piazza a street art baroque delirium.

WINDOW

Igreja do Antigo Convento de São Francisco, Tavira

MODERNE HEATER

The floor heater at Casa de Serralves, in Porto, is a piece of sculpture in polished brass erupting out of the marble floor. You can almost believe it could actually move up and down, complete with the top floor piece still attached. As always, perfect design and execution in Porto's greatest gesamtkunstverk, with the Ruhlmann interiors beautifully complementing Marques da Silva's architecture. Pity it didn't last like that to our days, and the now spartan white-painted interiors are somewhat used for performances or installations, but the hard surfaces and fixtures still remain as testament to less utilitarian and pseudo-minimalist times.

OVAL WINDOW

Private House, Faro

Lost Paradise

The valley of Almofala, Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo.
This is only half Old Portuguese Stuff, as the right bank of the river (as seen in the photos) is already Spanish territory. But Man-made divisions aside, stark Nature here rules absolute, with the river flowing gently by and vultures crossing above to nest. A small chapel and a columbarium rest above the remains of a castrum, a native settlement before and during Roman occupation perched atop the hill.

Cloisters, Viseu

Sé de Viseu, the cloisters.

THE CEMETERY GATES

 Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo. The inscription reads something like:

"May you carefully consider this place of terror
Where vanities of this deceiving world are ended"
1864

Happy weekend!

HEXAGONAL ENCAUSTIC TILES

Private House, Coimbra

STRANGE STRUCTURE

Palácio dos Biscainhos (17th century), Braga

THE MEANING OF LIFE

"The meaning of life" was the expression the guide used to present me the gargoyles that are overlooking this cloyster in the Museum of the City of Faro. There are 12 gargoyles in the cloyster: one male gargoyle, one female gargoyle, nine pregnant gargoyles and another one holding a baby.

Convento de Nossa Senhora da Assunção (Museu Municipal de Faro), 16th century, Faro

TILES

Palácio dos Bicainhos (17th century), Braga

CHIMNEY

Convento de Nossa Senhora da Assunção (Museu Municipal de Faro), 16th century, Faro

BAROQUE DOOR AND WINDOW DETAIL

Palácio do Raio, Braga. The Rocaille mixes with the the Northern Baroque of André Soares, Braga's architect of wonders.

MONSTERS

Museu Municipal de Faro (cloister). Beneath the pregnant gargoyles, these bas-relief flowers in bloom open up like a twisted mouth at their core.

ITALIAN WINDOW

Palácio Episcopal de Faro, Architect Fancisco Xavier Fabri.
Not really full on baroque, but the two-dimensionality is made up for by the charming profiles, which could also be called neoclassical save from the pointed "chinese" pediment on top.

CHICKEN

Palácio dos Bicainhos (17th century), Braga. A stone bird at a water tank's edge in the garden.

INSIDE AND OUTSIDE

Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Braga, Braga. The church came after the luscious baroque garden stairs and pavilions, hence its already "neo-classical" straightness of design. The relatively cool emotional feeling of the temple contrasts with the fireworks in stone displayed in the ascending path.