ARCHITECTURE:
Eduardo Souto Moura
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ADDRESS:
Rua D. João IV, Porto
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CITY:
Porto
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DATE:
1992-2001
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VISIT:
Inside - Outside
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MORE DETAILS:
The Santo António convent was started in 1783. It was thought at the time that this could become one of the largest monastic buildings of Oporto city, but the works continued for many decades and in 1834, the year of the religious orders extinction in Portugal, it was not yet completed. The library was installed there in 1842. The building is set in an urban core of characteristics predominantly from the XVIII century. The main façade, from the second half of the XVIII century, has three floors with different but symmetrical spans and shows an homogeneous coverage composition, of tile with small dormer-windows. This building stands out for its austerity and architectural and decorative depuration. It develops according to the two-story cloister, which opens to the courtyard through a round arch arcade on the first, and curved fronton windows, on the second. The cloister works as the element that brings together and articulates the bodies of the building. Recently, the inner spaces have undergone an extensive refurbishment in order to better respond to current needs.

Eduardo Souto Moura
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