Unknown Porto- the use of azulejos in the modern architecture of the northern Portuguese town

Abstract

During the 19th century azulejos started to be used mostly in urban façades, a novel application that opened the way for the “faience towns”. However, by the late 1930s, the azulejos were considered something outdated, unworthy of integration in the modern architecture. Later, with the reintroduction of the azulejo in the Brazilian modern architecture during the 1940s, which assumed an important role as a regional mark rooted in a prestigious history, the young Portuguese architects started integrating them in modern constructions from the first half of the 1950s. Porto stands as a Portuguese town where not only modern azulejos were used in a striking number of works, but also as a place where they were used with great creativity. However, references in the bibliography are scant, compared to Lisbon. The aim of this paper is to discuss the use of modern azulejos in Porto, revealing some unknown cases that marked the modern period in the town. The discussion will be illustrated with an overview of the city’s urban expansion in that period.