''Casa de Chá da Boa Nova'' (Boa Nova Tea House) is a restaurant designed by the Portuguese architect

Álvaro Siza Vieira Álvaro Joaquim de Melo Siza Vieira (born 25 June 1933) is a Portuguese architect, and architectural educator. He is internationally known as Álvaro Siza () and in Portugal as Siza Vieira (). Early life and education Siza was born in Matosi ...

. Situated on the Atlantic coast of Portugal, it is in the

Leça da Palmeira Leça da Palmeira () is an area in the Portuguese city of Matosinhos north of the Leça river. It was a civil parish until 2013, when it was merged with the parish of Matosinhos, forming Matosinhos e Leça da Palmeira. The parish covered and had ...

parish in the municipality of

Matosinhos Matosinhos () is a City#Portugal, city and a Concelho, municipality in the district of Porto District, Porto in Portugal. The municipality covers an area of approximately and had 172,557 inhabitants in 2021. It is bordered by the municipalities o ...

in the

Porto District The Districts of Portugal, District of Porto ( ) is located on the north-west coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Porto, the second largest city in the country. It is bordered by the Aveiro (district), Aveiro and Viseu (distric ...

. The building is close to the Tidal pools of Leça da Palmeira designed by the same architect, and the Leça Lighthouse, another local landmark. It has been classified as a national monument since 2011.

History

The building was designed following a competition held by Matosinhos in 1956, which was won by architect Fernando Távora. After choosing the site on the rocks overlooking the sea, Távora handed over the project to one of his juniors, Álvaro Siza, who was taking the first steps in his career. It was one of his first works, implemented between 1958 and 1963. The building originally functioned as a tea room. It was remodelled in 1991 after a strong storm hit the building. In 2011 it was vacated by the company running it, on the termination of its contract, was allowed to rapidly become run down and was subject to vandalism, despite its classification as a National Monument. In 2014 the Tea House was reopened as a restaurant. The renovation was carried out under the supervision of Siza, in accordance with the original drawings and specifications. As of mid-2023 the building functioned as a

Michelin-starred The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

restaurant. This necessitated a change to the original layout in order to fit more dining tables.

Description

According to Siza, “architects do not invent anything, they transform reality.” Set in an area of rocks, the building is an example of the relation of architecture with an active interpretation of the landscape. The Casa de Chá is accessed from a parking lot, which is about 300 meters away. Access is via a stepped pathway integrated into the rocks, which alternately reveals and hides the sea. On reaching the building, the low

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

of the roof direct the visitor's gaze to the sea. The interior is designed to frame the landscape, utilising large glass panels that blur the boundaries between the building and its surroundings. The presence of wood on the floors, walls and ceilings highlights Siza's admiration for the work of the Finnish architect,

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

References

{{stack

External links

Siza talks about the Casa do Chá (from 2'23")
Buildings and structures in Matosinhos Álvaro Siza Vieira buildings Modernist architecture in Portugal