BRASS MOLDS

 

Lamp factory, Marinha Grande.

ON CHARRETTE

And will be back tomorrow... this is a small house in the Douro, walls are lime whitewash over slate.

THE DOORWAY OF THE TOWN HALL

Braga. Although Braga doesn't have a Baroque urban layout like the Sicilian Southeastern towns, its center is a crazy amalgamation of the wildest 18th century designs and, like the Noto Valley, all keeping reasonably within the same language. The Town Hall has the largest scaled volutes around a door ever, inverted and massive. Diagonally placed in plan to welcome the visitor as if with open arms, a scheme widely used throughout the Baroque. The whole composition right up to the complex pediment is an essay on absurdity and plays of scale and distortion. But Trystan Edwards would approve - everything is tightly tied together.

FLIES

Palácio dos Biscaínhos, Braga. Painted insects on the dressing room wall.

JUSTE-AURÉLE MEISSONIER NEVER WENT TO BRAGA

But his book probably did find its way there. André Soares was the likely "architect" of this wonderful monstrosity, a four-legged granite beast of a fountain canopy sitting in the park behind the Bom Jesus Sanctuary. The Sanctuary itself is a recognizable wonder of the Baroque vernacular (which will get several posts to itself here) but this piece is a one-off, a folly in the park too scary to be repeated.

TILES

Palácio do Raio (exterior facade), Braga

DOORWAY WITH HORSE BACKGROUND

Palácio do Conde do Bolhão, Porto

ROOF TILES

Decorative eave tiles in Marinha Grande.

CORNICE AND HANDRAIL

Palacete Pinto Leite,  Porto

ERNESTO KORRODI - HOUSE IN LEIRIA II

WALL TILES

Wall tiles of strong tridimensionality, color and texture. Private House, Marinha Grande.

BAHAMAS? NO, MARINHA GRANDE

The British Industrialist William Stephens established himself around Lisbon during the 18th century. He became known for producing glass, and brought to Marinha Grande, near Leiria, foreign skilled labor to work in his factory. He must have also brought an architect or two, as everything built is in the British Palladian style. The architectural compound encompasses his own house, offices and factory. As in the Bahamas across the ocean, the severity of the architecture is made smoother, infused with the local colors and vernacular details. It is sadly semi-abandoned, waiting for funding to turn it into a museum like so many projects in the country today, but the exterior is still charming and surprising.

THE GALLERY, DOURO

The second floor gallery at this house was added in the 1940s, with colored glass and a row of sash windows modeled after something in between a Swiss chalet and a Brazilian fazenda. But the result was completely Portuguese, with iron oxide colored trim, beadboard and high transomed doors.

EXTERIOR WALL TILES, EDGE AND CORNER

Marinha Grande.

EXTERIOR WALL TILES

Marinha Grande.

ABANDONED STEAM TRAINS

Régua, Portugal.

AS VISITAS - FIM DO PRIMEIRO CAPÍTULO

E assim terminaram as nossas primeiras visitas privadas organizadas a edíficios do Porto. Obrigado ao Alexandre Lourenço da Reitoria da Universidade do Porto e à Juliana Ferreira, do Museu de Arte Sacra e Arqueologia, que gentilmente nos acompanharam e guiaram.
Um  grande obrigado às instituições que aceitaram abrir as suas portas por nos receber no Dia Nacional dos Centros Históricos e a todos aqueles que participaram!

COMING SOON

Bahamas in Portugal, rococo craze in the north, and photos of the last private tours.

ON SITE - BOM JESUS, BRAGA