Pavilion of Portugal / Pavilhão de Portugal
Posté : 12 janv. 2017 08:56 am
Text from a CD of Expo 2000 Hannover - The History of World Fairs
The country's best-known living architect, Alvaro Siza, was commissioned to construct the host country's exhibition building. This was a very difficult task, as the clients were not sure at the beginning what the building was to do during and after Expo '98. Alvaro Siza therefore concentrated first on the design of the facades. The Portuguese pavilion is divided into two building parts separated by a two-metre wide corridor covered by a roof. Each part of the pavilion was designed differently. Thanks to the stone base surrounding the pavilion and the dazzling white plastered walls, the two parts appear to be optically linked together. In the northern vicinity, the pavilion opens up through a U-shaped courtyard onto olive gardens that are separated by walls taller than a man's waist, a reference to the ancient olive grove that gave the neighbourhood its name Olivais. On the harbour side, monumental arcades decorate the façade, whose strict row of pylons is softened by their different diameters. The main building is based on a module of five metres by seven and a half metres, a measurement already used for the car park.
The high interior rooms are located around a square inner courtyard, a traditional motif in Portuguese architecture. Here are the reception rooms for the guests of honour and a restaurant. Edouardo Souto de Moura had set up the exhibition and installed three Black Boxes in the rooms of Alvaro Siza because films and multimedia shows were shown there. After Expo '98 and the reconstruction of the building, the Portuguese pavilion was to be used by the government's council of ministers.the second part of the building is the covered festival square, which was also used for the opening ceremony of the World Expo. Two huge 15-metre high porticos support the thin 20-centimetre layer of concrete attached to the walls and fortified with stainless steel cables.
Like a gigantic sail, the roof is spread out over the large 65 x 50 metre square, light and without lighting and drainage facilities. The rainwater is drained away from the side of the pool by means of a small incline and falls directly into the ground. Alvaro Siza has succeeded in making the two parts of the building a worthy representation of the claim of Portuguese democracy with a clear and in no way intimidating architecture. In the festival square, the visitor is not overwhelmed by the roof, despite the three-metre depression in the middle of it, because it has not been directly attached to the supporting walls. The pervasive light that is present here and can be seen through the steel cables gives the whole construction a light, floating appearance.
The country's best-known living architect, Alvaro Siza, was commissioned to construct the host country's exhibition building. This was a very difficult task, as the clients were not sure at the beginning what the building was to do during and after Expo '98. Alvaro Siza therefore concentrated first on the design of the facades. The Portuguese pavilion is divided into two building parts separated by a two-metre wide corridor covered by a roof. Each part of the pavilion was designed differently. Thanks to the stone base surrounding the pavilion and the dazzling white plastered walls, the two parts appear to be optically linked together. In the northern vicinity, the pavilion opens up through a U-shaped courtyard onto olive gardens that are separated by walls taller than a man's waist, a reference to the ancient olive grove that gave the neighbourhood its name Olivais. On the harbour side, monumental arcades decorate the façade, whose strict row of pylons is softened by their different diameters. The main building is based on a module of five metres by seven and a half metres, a measurement already used for the car park.
The high interior rooms are located around a square inner courtyard, a traditional motif in Portuguese architecture. Here are the reception rooms for the guests of honour and a restaurant. Edouardo Souto de Moura had set up the exhibition and installed three Black Boxes in the rooms of Alvaro Siza because films and multimedia shows were shown there. After Expo '98 and the reconstruction of the building, the Portuguese pavilion was to be used by the government's council of ministers.the second part of the building is the covered festival square, which was also used for the opening ceremony of the World Expo. Two huge 15-metre high porticos support the thin 20-centimetre layer of concrete attached to the walls and fortified with stainless steel cables.
Like a gigantic sail, the roof is spread out over the large 65 x 50 metre square, light and without lighting and drainage facilities. The rainwater is drained away from the side of the pool by means of a small incline and falls directly into the ground. Alvaro Siza has succeeded in making the two parts of the building a worthy representation of the claim of Portuguese democracy with a clear and in no way intimidating architecture. In the festival square, the visitor is not overwhelmed by the roof, despite the three-metre depression in the middle of it, because it has not been directly attached to the supporting walls. The pervasive light that is present here and can be seen through the steel cables gives the whole construction a light, floating appearance.