Tea House, Boa Nova Restaurant

The projects on the Atlantic coast north of Porto have been and still are one of the undertakings Siza is most fond of. Right from the beginning of his career he had plenty of opportunities to work in this region, a place close to his heart, where he spent his childhood and adolescence. The tea house and the Boa-Nova restaurant were his first assignment in this region. During the construction of this building Siza was also commissioned to do the project for the famous “tides swimming pool” (1961-66) and later the planning and execution of the coastal road running from Leca to Boa-Nova (1965-1974). The plan for the making of another restaurant followed on, a restaurant situated next to the tides pool (1966) and later the monument to Antonio Nobre (1967). All these enterprises show Siza’s deep respect for his region and the effort he made to preserve this strip of coastline, so dear to him, regardless of the fact that it is right in the middle of an industrial area.

The tea house and the Boa-Nova restaurant’s design were given to him after Fernando Távora won a competition in 1956. After carefully choosing the building site Tavora delegated the project to his young collaborator, Alvaro Siza – a project that made Siza’s name.

The hybrid structure of this work clearly shows how the school of Porto was searching for a “third way” - on the one hand, features such as chimneys and protruding roofs are a reference to good quality vernacular architecture, typical of the Minho region. On the other hand we can see the influence of the Scandinavian school of modern architecture, with references to Alvar Aalto, whose work Siza only knew from architecture magazines. Great emphasis was given to craftsmanship and wood working in particular. However Siza chose an African wood called afzelia, able to endower places with a special warmth and atmosphere. In those days Finland, as well as Portugal, were lacking in industrial politics, which doubtlessly played a role in this coincidence.

Combining these two aspects of design dictated an organic tendency in this unique building, standing as it is on high grounds and directly facing the sea, right beside a traditional Portuguese church. Siza followed Tavora’s advice to the letter and it played an important role in the quality of the relationship between the existing building, the church, the cliffs and the new buildings, all in perfect harmony with the surrounding landscape. The building and its furniture have remained practically intact. It is Siza’s main undertaking in a period when he was looking for a regional expression connected with a definition of new Portuguese modern architecture.
F.B.

architect: Álvaro Siza Vieira con Alberto Neves, António Menéres, Botelho Dias Joaquim Sampaio
date: 1958-1963
restauration: 1991
architect: Álvaro Siza Vieira
coordinator: Carlos Castanheira
collaborator: Cristina Ferreirinha, Jane Considine
builder: Soares da Costa
client: Câmara Municipal de Matosinhos
location: Leça da Palmeira, Portugal
photos: FG+SG, Ruis Morais De Sousa