Porto’s Subway Through The Lens of Fernando Guerra

Porto Subway. Image © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

The following photo set by Fernando Guerra focuses on Porto’s Subway, a project completed in 1996 and projected by the important Portuguese Architect Álvaro Siza Vieira.

Designing a subway station in Porto is about influencing the daily lives of thousands of people, where they daily circulate, establishing flows and routes, in a urbanistic and architectural intervention with large-scale dimensions. Although it demands an extremely functional and austere design, it is possible to see the gestures of the architect through the details and surprises.

The tunnels launched under the mesh of the city, the gallery, and the platform under the sidewalk level, arise through scales and artificial light.

A symbol of contemporary architecture in Portugal, Siza supports the project in a set of elements that make reference to his previous works, through elements that seem to cleanse the excesses of space, retaining only what is essential.

Symmetry, white concrete walls, pastel tones tiles applied to the lateral gables and pillars, and peripheral illumination are some of the elements that harmoniously make up the internal area. From the minimalism of the architectural scale to the delicacy of the scale of the product design, those who calmly notice the tiles on the gables, beside the scalators, and on the pillars, notice some tiles printed with sketches of the architect. The peripheral illumination embedded in the lining design also helps to guide users circulating through the space. It shows us how architecture can be present in the daily life of the population, even if silent, without excesses, yet expressive.