Open House Porto 2017 took place on the first weekend of July (1-2)
The architects Paula Santos and Ivo Poças Martins are the pair of commissioners of this 3rd edition of OH Porto.
Each edition success relies on a enthusiastic group of young architects that will be part of the team. The volunteer teams have been amazing informing the visitor and suggesting other visits. Until 21 April of 2017, all individual over 16 years of age and interest in architecture are invited to join the volunteer team. An amazing experience that allows to live up close this international event that opens doors of the best architecture of Porto, Gaia and Matosinhos.
Organized by Casa da Arquitectura, the Open House Porto promotes a guided tour program open to everyone, in three cities – Porto, Matosinhos and Gaia. This year’s edition, it gathers "a group of eclectic works – both concerning the time it was built and its uses –, in the same measure of the urban diversity and its more recent mutation. This mixture, and the complexity that rises from this fact, show us what changes cities into living and inclusive bodies. Cities started to develop from occasional initiatives of different scales, suggesting routes, atmospheres and experiences in interstitial spaces." as mentioned by the curator team.
In addition to historical references of extraordinary beauty, the selection of spaces integrates brand new structures as the I3S, or the rehabilitation of Real Vinícola as the Casa da Arquitectura HQ. On the way, in Gaia, Matosinhos and Porto, from the downtown commercial buildings to islands brought back to life, new ways of inhabiting reveal themselves in unexpected houses in unlikely places.
Open House Porto 2017, I3S Building, Foto © Filipa Brito