Modernists in Portugal

And another NHR Update...

After the 2016 US election, I wanted to leave the US. Denise thought we would be happier in California, and concocted a plan to convince me. We attended Modernism Week in Palm Springs that winter and moved into a mid-century modern home in Rancho Mirage a few months later. Why am I telling you this? Read on, dear reader.

This photo was taken in Faro…not Palm Springs.

Modernist Week

I frankly forget how I became aware of an event in Faro earlier this month that celebrated Modernist architecture. However, I learned that one of the walking tours offered that weekend visited several buildings designed by Manuel Gomes da Costa, an architect born in VRSA. I had seen a number of buildings in VRSA that had a distinctly different look.

These are on our street. I pass them as I walk to the Mercado.

Also in VRSA. While I love the color, it is likely NOT original. This block would have been all white. However, they include built-in flower boxes and geometric screens which typify Gomes da Costa’s design.

So I purchased my €20 ticket, dropped off Denise at the pedestrian shopping area in Faro, and indulged my love for architecture with about 30 others. I learned that Gomes da Costa first studied architecture at the Lisbon School of Fine Arts, but moved to Porto after only one year to escape the control that the PIDE political police had on the school at that time. In Porto, along with his professor and fellow students, he became fascinated by Brazilian architects.¹

These men brought a very different language to the architecture of the Algarve along with new applications of traditional building materials (reinforced concrete, loose stone walls, etc.) Of course, this new expression was not always welcomed in the 1950s, however, Gomes da Costa persisted:

From his (impressive) office house on Rua Reitor Teixeira Guedes in the Algarve capital, working as a rule alone and refining his personal architectural expression, the architect patiently wove a web of personal, social and professional relationships that allowed him to become, from the early 1960s, the reference designer for a wide range of works in the city. The recognition of the community - in daily meetings at Café Aliança - resulted in the support of municipal and regional bodies and in the orders of customers such as the Bishopric of the Algarve, the main real estate developers, official officials and civil engineers / builders of Faro and other centers of Sotavento. - Publico.pt

For example, the design of this two-apartment building (below) was originally rejected because it included interior ramps and gardens. Another building was rejected because it had a “butterfly roof”.

If you take a closer look at the building today, you see that the first-floor apartment is in pretty good condition, while the apartment above has been left vacant and neglected for several years.

The second-floor apartment includes a third-floor rooftop deck.

One of the British members of our walking group asked if the city could force the apartment's owner to effect repairs as he assumed the building had a “historical listing”. A few of us chuckled at this suggestion, as a 50-year-old building would not have such a designation. We learned that while the owners of the lower-level apartment had concerns, the apartment above had been inherited by a family living in Venezuela and thus nothing could be done.

A large apartment building beside a roundabout, now and then. Color changes, balconies enclosed with glass.

While tile and color have been added to facades, and many of the balconies of these buildings have been enclosed to create more interior living space, it is clear that they profoundly influenced Portuguese architecture. The house on the left below was recently built, the one on the right was built in the 1970s.

The palm tree extending through the roof (on the left) caused me to flashback to the Palm Springs City Hall.

Save the Dates

The third edition of Modernist Week in Faro has already been scheduled for 8-12 November 2024. If you can’t wait till then, consider visiting Modernism Week in Palm Springs, 15-25 February 2024. While the tickets will be considerably more expensive than the one I bought in Faro, it is a fabulous week. Especially, if like me, you were an architect in a former life.

Interior detail of the house below taken February 2017.

Frank, Dean, and Sammy may have swum in this pool.

Obrigado por me acompanhar numa viagem ao passado, até à próxima semana,

Nanc

NEW NHR PROPOSAL: The government is now proposing a transition period for NHR qualification as part of the new budget. To qualify a person must meet one of the following criteria:

• Have entered into a registered rental agreement (or equivalent) on a property in Portugal by 10 October 2023.²

• Have signed a promissory contract or made a reservation to purchase a property in Portugal by 10 October 2023.

• Registered their children in an educational facility in Portugal by 10 October 2023.

• Secured an employment contract in Portugal prior to 31 December 2023.

• Have a residency visa or have proof that they have applied for a residency visa by 31 December 2023. It is assumed this includes contact with a consulate or VFS (even though the visa has not yet been approved).

If you meet any of these criteria you may have all of 2024 to apply for NHR status. Remember a vote on the budget is scheduled for 29 November, and the President has until the end of December to approve. Nothing is a certainty till then! Stay tuned…

1. He was a student of Carlos Ramos and a classmate of Fernando Távora, António Vicente de Castro, from Lagos, and Manuel Laginha, from Loulé.

2. 10 October was the date the government first announced changes to the NHR program. A “registered contract” is intended to ensure someone does not backdate such an agreement.