A geometric white-concrete pavilion by Álvaro Siza forms a striking addition to the Monastery of Leça do Balio near Porto.
Situated on the banks of the Leça River to the north of Porto, the Monastery of Leça do Balio is a Portuguese national monument and home to the Livraria Lello Foundation. Álvaro Siza’s angular pavilion occupies the northern corner of the site and is planned around an open air courtyard. Constructed in white concrete, the 400-square-metre geometrical structure includes two towers rising to 12 and 14 metres respectively.
The entrance is located between a pair of symmetrical volumes that rise up to form lightwells. Inside, fair-faced concrete walls are combined with timber doors and gravel flooring to form a stripped-back minimalist aesthetic. Openings in the tower and roof articulate the interior with subtly changing areas of daylight and shadow.
Forming the centrepiece of the courtyard is a 1.8 metre-high sculpture, also designed by Siza. Titled the Wayfarer, it references the pilgrim’s physical and spiritual journey along the nearby Way of Saint James, or Camino de Santiago.
“I was asked to design a building project that would make visible, that would mark the importance of Leco do Balio in the Way of Saint James,” explains Siza. A new landmark in the building that occupies part of a geometric garden belonging to the monastery and has a connection with the church itself.”
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