Modern Architecture (Spela, Beatriz and Vítor)

We chose modern architecture to be the theme of our group work because we think it’s an interesting subject, once it’s related to arts and to the present-day’s culture. It could also be an amusing way to walk around our city, Lisbon, and a great opportunity to visit pleasant spaces and find out more about them.

Parque das Nações was the first thing that flew through our minds when we were trying to find examples of modern architecture. It's an important melting pot, where we can find contemporary buildings that were specially conceived to Expo ’98; we thought this “turning point” of national architecture should be also our “starting point” for this research.
Thanks to EU and Expo ‘98 was necessary for Portugal to open its doors and windows, and so we did. For instance, the beautiful Gare do Oriente: the train station, next to the world’s fair, designed by Santiago Calatrava. He chose steel painted in white and glass to materialize giant posts that look like huge cubic flowers that seem wide opened to receive the daylight or even the bright moonlight.

The Atlantic Pavilion (Pavilhão Atlântico) is a previous Expo ’98 building too, designed by Regino Cruz and it holds around 20.000 people. The pavilion is becoming an international reference, so we can’t reduce its importance to its revolutionary modern style, inspired in Portuguese historic symbols, such as the 15th century boats that were made out of wood, like the interior ceilings (of the pavilion), not only for aesthetic reasons, but also to create a better acoustic in the room. In the outside we have a more futuristic style; the oval form of the building and its materials, similar to rubber, etc, remind us space ships from science fiction movies.





European Music Awards 2005, Madonna and Pearl Jam’s last tours, or even sports’ events like “Monster Jam”, are some of the international events that took place here and gave this building more notoriety.

Alvalade XXI stadium was opened on 6 August 2003. The official stadium of football club Sporting is a big, impressive building, boasting a splash of colours which are associated with the team: green, yellow and white. A further point that was of interest to us was that the seats are all coloured in a rainbow of colours, so as to have the feeling of a full house for every game.
But this stadium is not only a sporting venue; the 52 000 capacity building, it is also a grand venue for live music concerts. Previous acts that were performed here include U2.
The architectural genius of this building is down to Tomás Taveira.

Marconi building is, in an aesthetic, architectonic and constructive perspective, a great reference of Lisbon.
As one of the new “Intelligent buildings”, it’s one of the best examples of technology, and a multifunctional space.
It was built in 1992, and designed by Raul Martins. Its design is not as simple as it might look at first. This building is well known for its symmetrical sides that look like stairs leading to the sky.

These are just some examples of modern spaces that unite arts (great architecture) with nowadays’ social and cultural needs that we can find in this improved city. We “left behind” some other buildings that we appreciate because of the time and words limit (e.g.: Ponte Vasco da Gama, Pavilhão de Portugal, …). Maybe we’ll tell you more about them next time. We hope you have enjoyed this tour.