Edifício Soares & Irmão: escritórios e habitação na Rua de Ceuta, Porto: Arménio Losa e Cassiano Barbosa, 1950-1955

Abstract

The Soares & Irmão Building: offices and homes in Rua de Ceuta, Oporto: Arménio Losa e Cassiano Barbosa, 1950-1955. op. cit., p.26-37 The Soares & Irmão building is a modern construction. Aware of its surroundings, it respects alignments and design in terms of the traditional street's outline, creating the necessary compromises so as to answer the Modern call, whilst acknowledging the socio-cultural conditions of the time and city in which it has been built. This vital cross between being Modern and the need to encompass the different circumstances that have surrounded and moulded it became the hallmark of Arménio Losa and Cassiano Barbosa's work, producing the singularity of modern Portuguese architecture. The building programme installed offices, and the respective logistic support services for Soares & Irmão, and three homes. This project pragmatically abandons the Modern idea of the functional separation of work and homes through differentiated buildings, and zoning of the city. It represents reconciliation between the two programmes (offices and homes), different both spatially and in terms of use, dealt with without questioning the desired formal unity of the building as it appears in the city. This situation does not invalidate the fact that when planning the interior, the specific characteristics of working and living were considered, achieving the right degree of segregation and integration, as well as the necessary Modern affirmation.