We take the train back to Porto (pop 252,687 in 2024). We cross the Douro on Friday afternoon, with a fantastic view of the Ponte Dona Maria Pia (Gustave Eiffel, 1877). We drop our bags at the hotel and head off for dinner in Gaia.
Old college friends are visiting from Maine, so we want to find something new in Porto as well introduce our friends to the city. So, we make our way to the Rua de Cedofeita, past the Torre dos Clérigos, and into the old neighborhood of Vitória.
Along the Rua de São Bento da Vitória stands the Mosteiro and the seventeenth century church with the recognizable thermal window. The Igreja Paroquial de Nossa Senhora da Vitória (18th century) sits at the end of the street, next a small miradouro which acts as the top landing of the Escadas da Vitória.
Following the stairs down, we arrive at the door of the Escovaria de Belomonte, an old shop where they still craft brushes and brooms the 'old-fashioned way': with specific woods and animal hairs assembled into traditional forms. The proprietor, António da Silva according to the sign, offers lively conversation and explanations of his products and we are enthralled; it is difficult to imagine more humble items lifted to such artisanal heights.
For Saturday breakfast, we head to the Mercado do Bolhão (early 20th century; restored 2022) – another 'first'.
We know Bolhão as the place where two 'fisherwives' famously abused poor Anthony Bourdain in an episode of Parts Unknown from 2017. Later in the episode, the ladies discuss the upcoming renovations over scenes of the old Mercado, and lament that they will no longer be allowed to talk dirty in new building. Of course, we have always wanted to visit, but the Mercado was always under construction or closed during past visits.
Today it is open and full of colorful, fresh produce, meat, fish and tourists. It is a bit antiseptic compared to the old Bourdain videos, but the breakfast is good.
Our friends work in architecture, so we plan a day at the Serralves (Álvaro Siza Viera, 1991-99; addition 2019-2023) to see "AALTO", which anticipates the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. We've added another couple to our group, also from Maine, but these two are not architects, so we'll do our best to relate the exhibition.
The story is presented chronologically through the galleries of the new Ala Álvaro Siza – an amazing architectural setting for an architectural show, as we saw last June. Unfortunately, we enter the middle of the galleries, so we must read the story to the end, then double-back to read the beginning. In fact, as we're trying to enjoy the show as a group, we zigzag through the rooms, trying to connect with our friends and the exhibited content.
The first rooms we explore, with 'biblical' room titles and projects listed from the exhibition brochure, are:
8. Crónicas (Chronicles)Muuratsalo Experimental House, Jyväskylä, Finland (1952-54)Studio Aalto, Helsinki, Finland (1954-55, 1962-63)7. Reis (Kings)Säynätsalo Town Hall, Jyväskylä, Finland (1949-52)Seinäjoki Civic Centre, Finland (1951-87)4. Números (Numbers)Sunila pulp mill and residential area, Kotka, Finland (1936–38, 1947, 1951–54)Villa Mairea, Noormarkku, Finland (1937–39)
Room "8. Crónicas" offers an excellent welcome, as we enter a room full of Aalto furniture in front of an interior photo wall-vinyl. Another wall vinyl, numerous drawings and a compelling model of the Muuratsalo give the architecture life.
For the uninitiated, the large and plentiful photos and the excellent models provide an easier way to understand the architecture. Also, the beautifully constructed, tonal perspective drawing of the Civic Center also helps bridge between the housewares and furnishings, and the more 'abstract' plan and section drawings.
The next rooms in our journey are:
6. Juízes (Judges)Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland (1949-74)University of Jyväskylä, Finland (1951–71)2. Êxodo (Exodus)Turun Sanomat Newspaper Headquarters & Exhibition Pavilion, Turku, Finland (1928–29)Columbus Memorial Lighthouse Competition, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (1928–30)Paimio Sanatorium, Finland (1929-33)
In so many ways, Aalto's architecture grows from the inside out. In particular, the spiraling circular shapes derive from Aalto's intention to create focal points, and spaces where people gather such as the reading room in the Civic Center (above) or the auditorium of the University of Technology.
The section details for the list baffles are fascinating, as is the sink detail for the patient rooms in the Sanatorium. Around the rectangular courtyards, the rooms are arranged efficiently, but where special attentions required for both light and sound, it is given.
However, neither of things points should be taken to exclude Aalto's sense of playfulness, as shown in the Newspaper Headquarters signage and organic forms of the printing rooms – look at the light and the reflections.
Absorbing these images, we also consider the space that houses the exhibition, which is further reflected in the mirror-finish plinths for the models. The way Siza pulls back the edges of the ceiling to introduce light, and the geometries that this generates is a wonderful complement to Aalto's work.
The next rooms are:
5. Deuteronómio (Deuteronomy)MIT Baker House Dormitory, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA (1947-49)9. Salmos (Psalms)House of Culture, Helsinki, Finland (1952-58)Finnish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Italy (1956)
In "Room 5. Deuteronómio", we find the snake-like Baker House, which we know from our days living and working in Boston and Cambridge. The slithering, planar forms repeat in the 1939 Finnish Pavilion, which includes an elaborate section model. Truly this seems like a space that's impossible to explain in either drawings or photos – we want to shrink down and step into the model.
Next, larger projects feature in these rooms:
10. Provérbios (Proverbs)Maison Louis Carré, Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, France (1956-59, 1961-63)Apartment Building Interbau - Hansaviertel, Berlin, Germany (1956–58)Neue Vahr Highrise, Bremen, Germany (1958-62)11. Eclesiastes (Ecclesiastes)Church of the Three Crosses, Imatra, Finland (1956-58)Church of the Holy Spirit, Wolfsburg, Germany (1959-62)St Stephen’s Church, Wolfsburg, Germany (1965-68)14. Atos (Acts)Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, Denmark (1957–58, 1963–72)Baghdad Art Museum, Iraq (1957-58)Shiraz Museum of Modern Art, Iran (1969-72)
The 'final' room is:
15. Apocalipse (Revelation)Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Finland (1962-75)Helsinki City Centre, Finland (circa 1961)St. Mary’s Church of the Assumption, Riola di Vergato, Italy (1966-80)
Room "15. Apocalipse" is an act of wish-fulfillment; we may inhabit the 1939 Pavilion space with the serpentine wall (top image). The gallery includes Aalto's imagined master plan for Helsinki's City Center as well as the intimate church of St Mary's.
The wall graphics suggest this might be the 'first' room, but there did not appear to be any other way to go from the Siza Wing's connector. But then the numbers and the title suggest that this should be the end.
In chasing our guests, we loop back through the galleries to the 'beginning', which is:
1. Génesis (Genesis)Harju Cultural Sauna, Jyväskylä, Finland (1925)Jyväskylä Workers’ Club, Finland (1924–25)Viipuri Library, Vyborg, Russia (1927-35)
We gather and greet our friends browsing the catalogs and books in these rooms:
13. Lamentações (Lamentations)Mount Angel Abbey Library, Saint Benedict, Oregon, USA (1964-68)Rovaniemi Civic Centre, Finland (1961-88)12. Cântico dos Cânticos (Song of Songs)Opera House, Essen, Germany (1959, 1983−88)Academic Bookstore, Helsinki, Finland (1961-69)
We wonder how our 'novices' are doing; they seem curious, but less engaged. So we use the example of the skylight for the Academic Bookstore and go from the drawings on the wall, to the model overhead, to the large photo in the corner (as in the brochure). We try to connect the dots and explain how ideas are realized and why.
In the incredible perspective drawing of the Opera House, we describe the process to our guests; how linear perspectives are constructed with a view point (bottom of the drawing), lateral measurements transferred from the floor plan (tick marks at the top), and vanishing points. And how Aalto can use these tools to bring a curving, sloping, intersecting walls to life, the 'old-fashioned way'. We may compare the drawing and the photo and appreciate how these are crafted.
We think of António da Silva explaining his brushes.
We finish the afternoon with a walk in the Parque de Serralves. In front of the Casa de Serralves (1925-44) we encounter "L.O.V.E." (Maurizio Cattelan, 2024 – we recently saw "Ghosts" in Bologna). This is an over-scaled hand with all the digits removed except the 'middle' one. From the back, it looks almost Constructivist, but from the front it is pure Dada and Pop Art. The letters stand for "Libertà, Odio, Vendetta, Eternità" [Freedom, Hatred, Vengeance, Eternity].
We follow the formal gardens down to the grotto, and find "Daddy Daddy" (Cattelan, 2008), a Disney-ish Pinocchio doll floating face-down in the water. We think about how the enchanted puppet wished to be a boy, that perhaps this wish holds tragic consequences – the steppingstones around the pond are slippery and uneven.
These are two of the outdoor pieces in Cattelan's show "Sussurro" ("Murmur", exhibition brochure).
We end our day at the Atlantic shore of the Foz do Douro with the sunset. As we walk along the Pérgola da Foz, we remind ourselves that New England is just over the horizon.
