Places
Casa da Arquitectura
Regular Visits
Tours
Sáb 11h, Técnico Águas de Gaia / Dom 11h, Arq. Joana Almendra
Maximum 20 people per visit
No reservation required; first-come, first-served
Wheelchair access
Photography allowed
Description
This building seems like a paradox because even though the definition of square is quite broad, the truth is that we associate it with wide public open spaces free of buildings. In other words, we connect it to urban voids with meaning that potentiate the meeting of citizens. This square is composed of the buildings themselves and in that sense it seems to be closer to the Roman Forum; but its development in open air, in the roof of the building implanted at a low quota in the back of the Vila Nova de Gaia’s City Council, invokes also the Greek Ágora overlooking the acropolis. The square-building is a manifestation of an intimate connection between urbanism and architecture, and is also the literal manifestation of its program: Urbanism, Housing and every Gaia customer service concentrated in one place. Inside a waiting area defined on one side by a service desk, and the other by a gazebo balcony that frames the landscape. At a higher quota, in the buildings roof (or in the square) we can see the river Douro and the acropolis – the other, on the other side.
Location
Rua 20 de Junho
Directions: Google Maps / Apple Maps
Public Transport
Subway: Linha D - Câmara de Gaia
Bus: STCP - 900, 904, 905
Train: General Torres