Porto - Take Me to the River

The Talking Heads covered Rev. Al Green 's well-worn soul tune "Take Me to the River" about the time I was applying to art (architecture) school: the T-Heads were from RISD, and that's where I went. Something about the contrast appealed to me.

The song is running in my head this morning as we head out to explore Porto because either version works for Porto: classic gospel-soul or neurotic new wave. Our plan is to walk down to the Douro and explore the water's edge. We depart the hotel and head to the Rotunda da Boavista - a traffic rotary nearby where we find Rem Koolhaus' Casa da Musica. As we approach we see that there is some kind of carnival on the Rotunda, and there is a looming ferris wheel anchoring the end of the street; behind the arc is a classical column of some kind that apparently sits in the center of the Rotunda.

We have  tickets for a performance later tonight, but we take our own tour of the building for now. It is a large jeweled concrete block, unevenly cut so that the sides flatten out at certain angles. Unusual that one can see this building in the round, as most of the rest of Porto and Lisbon) is an unbroken line of facades. The plaza on which it sits is a curvy, wavy, earth-toned series of triangles, as if it came right out of the computer as a series of polygons; this is cut with several slots and openings.

The interior is all steel and translucent panels, meshes and light strips. The concrete is never quite square - it's like being in a German Expressionist movie. It's excellent. The crowd chilling in the shadows of the overhangs at the Cafe seem subdued - maybe it's the heat, but I suspect the architecture is a bit intimidating. Doesn't seem to bother the skateboarders, though.

We cross to the Rotunda where we find a kind of midway setup. Stalls and rides, doughy things for sale. It's quite mellow though - perhaps they are all waiting for the Festa de Sao Joao. As I snap the figurines, I think for a moment that these are Ultraman action figures, but no, they are Buddha dolls - neither one really makes sense in this context.

Crossing over the Rotunda, we can see that the classical column is indeed a classical column: doric to be precise. And the figure on the top is a lion killing what appears to be an eagle. The rest of the monument is covered in old-timer military imagery: canons, dead horses, women with breast plates. Now surrounded by NASA rockets and Disney characters.

We leave the Boavista neighborhood and head south towards the Douro. The collisions between the old and modern, patina and polish, the sacred and profane, soul and new wave are all around us.

Had heard that one could find young men jumping from the lower deck of the Ponte de Dom Luis, and well, it's true. What I did not expect: he asked me for money before he jumped. He got none from me but did jump in any case.

We, again, cross to the Gaia side of the Douro, where things have quieted down significantly since yesterday evening. Looking across at Porto, it is truly amazing to see the layers of buildings stretching the entire visible shore - from the seawall, the first stone arches, to the first row of smaller building, and the larger buildings behind and on top of all that. It's such an insane mess and it's fantastic. You can tell that thousands of people making thousands of decisions over thousands of years built this city; everybody covering someone else.

We leave Gaia and the river to the extremely loud strains of a goth band's cover to Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell", a song that probably doesn't need a cover. They are right across the street from what looks like a religion studies center called Corpus Chriti; there are men in black wandering about. Of Rev. Al Green's song, Talking Head lead David Byrne said, "A song that combines teenage lust with baptism. Not equates, you understand, but throws them in the same stew, at least. A potent blend."

We return to the Casa da Musica to hear a concert by different groups from the Conservatorio do Vale do Sousa: "... dedicated to Traditional/Popular Portuguese Music – devoted to restoring its former dignity and emphasizing the need to preserve and revitalize it." It's a fun show, with a group that looked to be almost 100 strong on stage. And I can also bring you images from the inside of the concert hall.