Boavista (1)

Boavista is the name of both an avenue, a roundabout, a street and a football club in Porto. From the top of Boavista Avenue it is possible to spot the sea and this is probably why it was first called Boavista ("Good view"). Some people also called it the "toothless old lady", which is not a correct translation as "toothless" means literally "without a tooth" while the equivalent Portuguese expression ("desdentada") means something like "one tooth yes, one tooth not". This expression was used as along the more than 5 kms stretch of Boavista Avenue there were many empty spaces between some high rise buildings. This has somewhat changed in recent decades but not too much. On the spaces occupied by buildings there are some old ones of good quality and others not so good. Meanwhile over the last ten years or so some great buildings have been built along the Boavista. It is possible to see there now projects of at least three Pritzker Prize winners. On the top stands Casa da Musica (House of Music) a concert hall designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhas. As one gets down Boavista in the direction of the sea it is possible to spot a few buidings of other two Pritzkers, Álvaro Siza Vieira and Eduardo Souto Moura. Siza was born in the periphery of Porto and Souto Moura was born in the city. Both are professors in the architecture school of Porto. Not many cities in the world can boast having two living and active Pritzker winners, I guess.

Done