Eduardo Souto Moura – Casa Das Artes

One of the first built projects of Eduardo Souto Moura, Casa das Artes was designed in the early 1980s and completed construction in 1991. The building is located in the gardens of a neoclassical mansion in Porto, dating from the beginning of the 20th century. The competition programme proposed a cinema, auditorium, an exhibition gallery, and required that the surroundings be preserved as they were. According to the architect, “Work was not allowed to interfere with the garden. Omitting was more important than proposing, deleting was more important than designing, and simplicity more important than composition.” This monograph reflects his very minimalistic approach.