‘Tradition is important when it contains moments of change, when it is not just outward form and when it also implies an idea of what goes on inside a building, of conflicts and a potential for innovation. Otherwise tradition just means being stuck in a rut.’ – Alvaro Siza
Noelia Blass wearing oversized pink T-shirt.
Introducing Villa Serralves at Porto at The New 30’s.
In the outskirts of beautiful Porto is what is considered to be one of the best examples of Art Deco architecture in Portugal, the Serralves Villa. Serralves Villa offers a chance to take a trip back in time: to the very best of the 30s – The New 30’s – and its inclination towards this art style in all shape and form.With great decorative rigor and high quality materials, the Villa benefited from the intervention of leading figures, such as Silva, Siclis, Rulhmann, Lalique, and Siza, among others.
Pink Villa Serralves.
The distinguished pink house is located in one of the highest points of the Serralves Foundation – a well-known referent of the contemporary arts in Portugal. The Foundation, which hosts some of the most interesting temporary exhibitions worldwide, was originally designed by the celebrated architect Alvaro Siza – winner of the 1992 Pritzker prize. Siza was credited as being a successor of early modernists, in the literal words of the jury: “his shapes, molded by light, have a deceptive simplicity about them; they are honest.”
‘A good architect works slowly.’ – Alvaro Siza
The building was constructed between 1925 and 1944, combining neoclassical and art deco elements.Second Count of Vizela, Carlos Alberto Cabral inherited the estate in 1923 and two years later began planning a new house designed by the architect José Marques da Silva. The house was completed in 1944 and Cabral and his wife Blanche lived there until financial difficulties forced them to sell the house and estate in the early 1950s.
Symetry with a Valentino at Villa Serralves garden’s indoors.
The Villa presides mistically over the Serralves park, creating a very special atmosphere. The interior – under restoration when we arrived – is distributed across three floors. From the garden, marked by two straight tiered paths with a water channel between them, visitors can observe the extensive facade with large windows and streamlined geometric designs. It all felt like part of a new Anderson movie where everything is perfectly placed. The pastel tones, the geometric distribution of the garden and the soft light of the last days of September made it look like a surreal dream.
Pink facade of art deco Villa at Serralves Museum.
Lied on the green grass of Villa Serralves majestic garden.
Photography & words Penélope Blas
Art direction & styling Noelia Blas