Porto School of Architecture
Álvaro Siza Vieira · Porto, Portugal · 1996
Álvaro Siza's architecture faculty occupies a sloping site above the Douro River. Developed in phases through the 1980s and 1990s, the complex groups teaching towers and longer shared volumes around a sequence of exterior and interior spaces. The separate elements respond to views, orientation and the scale of the university programme rather than forming a single institutional block. Stairs, corridors and changes in level create an extended architectural promenade. The faculty is especially useful for studying how a campus can feel both connected and varied, with carefully controlled views linking individual rooms to the larger landscape. Visiting: An operating university faculty. Check visitor authorization before entering teaching spaces.