ArchiTourAlgarve - Architectural walking Tour Ilha / Praia de Faro Preview

This hotel was designed by architect Manuel Gomes da Costa from Faro (1921-2016), the most productive member of the trio that brought 'modern' architecture to the Algarve. The others are architect António Vicente de Castro from Portimão (1920-2002), whose villa can also be admired on the island, and architect Manuel Laguinha from Loulé (1919-1985). All three trained at the Escola Superior de Belas-Artes do Porto, under the guidance of professor Carlos Ramos (1897-1969).

Various designs for hotels (Tavira) are known by architect Manuel Gomes da Costa, but only this hotel and the first version of the famous 'Dom José Beach Hotel' opened in 1965 as the hotel 'Toca do Coelho' (photo12) in Quarteira is actually realised.

The hotel consists of two floors and is immediately recognizable as the holiday architecture of Manuel Gomes da Costa due to the alternating and shadowy play of surfaces, sticking out and passing beams, Cobogos (wall from open bricks/blocks) and the butterfly roof canopy. The start of the sloping roofs in the front with roof tiles mainly serves to hide the flat roof terrace.

Photos: a.o. @wilson semilio photo - @themodernistfaro - @richardwalker

They look like twin houses, but they are slightly different, especially in the facade. Perhaps it happened later during the many adjustments that homes in Portugal always undergo.

Typical 1950s look with the sloping balcony flanks and the steel pipe support on the entrance side. The balcony railing of the left house has been kept straight, while the balcony railing of the right house runs with the sloping balcony flank. Varied use of color which partly determines the atmosphere that the homes represent.

This beach bar with a terrace at the end of an alley next to a small supermarket is the best example of local 'Zen' experience. With your feet in the sand at a terrace on a dune ridge, enjoying a cup of coffee or a glas of white wine, you can look out over the Atlantic Ocean, while the sparrows - on the rope separating the terrace from the beach - try to grab the last crumbs from your toast.

Casa tradicional com um surpreendente brise-soleil lateral que confere ao conjunto um aspecto modernista. Do lado da lagoa, uma extensão com varanda e, por cima desta, uma clássica janela redonda portuguesa com decoração em ferro forjado e um portão com degraus para a praia...

How brutalist can you get it? Surprising house in brutalist style - from the French: Béton brut - raw concrete. Specialy because of the rough U-shaped canopy of the stairs to the living floor and the Flash Gordon-like design language in hard concrete and a hard color of blue.

And don't let me forget to mention the over-dimensioned 'hanging-in-the air' construction of the bay window-room with te balcony cantilever, the pastile-shaped window thatlooks like an eye and as surprise the 'traditional' chimney. Everything in concrete and the hard color of blue. Undeniably a surprising and special house...

Nicely dimensioned back side with lifted terrace to the lagoon side. Modernist appearance due to the use of Cobogo - open bricks/blocks - side walls, the conically shaped columns that support the terrace and the beautiful staircase with loose beveled concrete steps balancing on a concrete beam.

The beautifully detailed fencing consisting of a tube construction with a steel mesh filling that refers to the railings of cruise ships as often used in the 1950s and before. The beautiful mosaic with the swordfish complements the back side in an appropriate way.

One really interesting move here is the courtyard, tucked right inside the house. It shows exactly what Gomes da Costa cared about. This kind of enclosed patio—very typical in traditional architecture—means fewer windows are needed on the south side, while the north side stays more open. It’s a smart, Mediterranean way of keeping the house cool and controlling light.

But the biggest surprise is the use of pitched roofs. He doesn’t completely ditch the flat roof, but he treats it differently. Over the carport—the only flat roof—he adds low walls around it, turning it into a usable terrace. So instead of feeling like a compromise, the flat roof becomes part of a bigger idea, connected to more traditional roof types.

What’s also clever is how he handles the roofs overall. He doesn’t just drop them on top of the house—he really uses their shape as part of the design. In some views, the edges are built up so the house looks solid and almost heavy, hiding the roof surface. From other angles, the sloping roofs seem to flow more freely, making the building feel lighter and helping it blend into the landscape.

Luís Losa, 2009

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Manuel Gomes da Costa (MGdC) designed a remarkable group of buildings and diverse programs for Praia de Faro—including housing, facilities, and services. Among these, the Estalagem Aeromar and the proposed support buildings for the nautical center and campsite (never built) stand out.

This small dwelling, part of that complex, embodies the approach, spatiality, and formal organization characteristic of that flourishing period. Operationally, all these projects share a unified conception of man, machine, architecture, and landscape—balanced so that each finds its place within the functional logic of MGC’s modern design.

The landscape, here, becomes not merely a perception of place but a frameable reality that legitimizes design choices. The program is simple: a family beach house. The sequence of spaces follows an impeccable logic, reflecting MGdC’s consistent concern with the rhythms of everyday life.

The entire program fits within a compact ground-floor volume, complemented by a semi- covered parking space. The quadrangular plan generates an almost monolithic volume, lightened at the entrance corner by a perforated canopy that frames the growth of a future tree. This volumetric presence rests on a low stone plinth, elevating the house above street level.

The composition is crowned by a rooftop belvedere—a lookout accessed via a side staircase—that introduces the sense of a second story. With its vertical brise-soleil blades integrated into a windbreak panel and minimal structural supports, the belvedere contrasts sharply with the grounded solidity of the main house.

This lookout, both a qualitative enhancement of the program and a sculptural gesture, enriches the design and architectural expression. MGdC had already explored similar solutions: on the roof of the Alfredo Gago house in Faro, and more programmatically in the Tengarrinha House at Praia da Rocha.

Although later changes to the lookout’s structure, windbreak panels, and the surrounding urban context have diminished some of its original subtleties, this small, inevitably modern house continues to surprise visitors with its contemporary character.

António Rosa da Silva, 2009

Is this beach house from 1959 a tribute by architect Manuel Gomes da Costa (Faro) to Le Corbusier's 'Esprit Nouveau' (Photo 9) ? The Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau was a model home - designed by Swiss architects Le Corbusier - for the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, France.

The exhibition mainly had Art-Deco architects as participants. le Corbusier was a bit out of place with his "modernism", which meant that he was allocated a somewhat inferior position on the exhibition grounds. There was even a tree on it, leaving little room for a building. Le Corbusier simply solved it by building the house around the tree...

You can't get any closer to the beach and the sea than on the lower wooden terrace at the back side of beach club Sal'Mar. Relax and enjoy your first coffee here while your new family friend (puppy Sammy) tries to find her bone in the sand in front of the terrace of the beach club (see video). Nice menu card to eat or to snack and to drink a glass of wine. Friendly staff.

This was the beach house (Photo 1 to 8) for Dr. Balté from 1959 designed by architect António Vicente de Castro from Portimão and a good friend of architect Manuel Gomes da Costa. They were godfathers to each other's children.

A few years ago, this beautiful 'modernist' villa looked already slightly different from the original design (Photo 3.) after the 'usual' adjustments, such as the extension at the rear, which caused the external stairs to disappear.

However, the building has currently (Photo 9 to12) undergone a complete metamorphosis and almost nothing of the original design can be discovered anymore.

Photo 3.: Drawing by Luisa Castro (architect and daughter of António Vicente de Castro

On a small plot of land—typical of the occupation along the sandy strip of Faro Island—a house designed by Manuel Gomes da Costa for António Pires was built in 1959. The rectangular plot establishes a direct relationship with the plan of the house, which follows its form while leaving greater setbacks at the front and back.

With a distinctly geometric matrix, the plan generates volumes that correspond to the program’s main functions: the bedroom block, which cantilevers over the ground floor and creates a series of covered outdoor spaces; the service block, which projects forward at the front of the lot; and finally, the living and circulation areas, placed on the ground floor between the other two. The articulation of these three elements produces a set of spatially rich situations. The volumes are treated as boxes whose main façade planes are recessed and separately designed, creating transparencies as well as communal spaces on balconies and terraces.

On the ground floor, a concrete pergola aligned with the bedroom volume extends abstractly into the interior of the lot. This element not only contributes to the definition of the elevation but also marks the point of entry. The use of tiled surfaces in the recessed façade panels lends the house both material distinction and individuality. The original design envisioned figurative panels, with a three- color scheme that gave the house a more graphic character. Here, the entrance loses its traditional centrality. Subordinated to the overall architectural composition, the house withdraws from the street and turns inward toward the lagoon of the Ria Formosa.

The entrance becomes a threshold between interior and exterior living spaces. Inside, the spatial arrangement is pragmatic and functional, virtually eliminating circulation corridors. As in other projects, the staircase takes on a central role, with an almost sculptural presence. Despite the rigor of the design, Gomes da Costa emphasized fluidity, most notably in the double-height living room, where a north-facing opening admits diffuse light.

Within this typology of smaller houses, Gomes da Costa experimented more freely with volumetric juxtapositions, the transparency and filtering effects of cantilevered elements, and the proportions between parts—qualities especially valued by clients in the domestic architecture of single-family homes.

The architect combined rigorous design and composition with equally rigorous construction, supported by attention to detail, close supervision, and the expertise of builders familiar with the “Gomes da Costa style.” This ensured that most of his houses, including this one, have withstood both alterations and the passage of time with remarkable dignity.

António Rosa da Silva, 2009.

The black and white photos (9 and 10) give an impression of how the villa looked like after it had just been completed or (11) was still under construction..

Modernist neighbor of Manuel Gomes da Costa's villa. Mosaic work in the style of the neighbor's architect and also beautifull placed on a lifted block at the entrance. The balconies at the front have a surprising and stylish protrusion to the side, making the lagoon visible from the front.

At the back side is a beautiful cantilevered balcony supported by concrete beams and a view of the side with a vertical Brise-soleil opening. Reminiscent of the neighbors' architect, but considerably different in its further details...architect unknown.

On the camping site where also the water tower with the seahorse is located (photo 2.) there is a small service building that looks ... in the (very long) distance (a little bit) like an attempt to approach the world-famous Chapel Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp by architect Le Corbusier.

The curling concrete roof and also the protruding round wall in the front, feed this suggestion. Look and compare with a smile.... (photo 5.:Chapel Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp by architect Le Corbusier)

Once the place where you could get the best toastie sandwiches. Here all the surfers came together for a quick lunch and then dive into the waves again. Now with a new owner and a new green facade and they have switched from sandwiches to tapas.

Also new is the 360* terrace on the rooftop so you can watch both the Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean. A culinary reviews you can find here at Peter Cruimings website www.hotspotsalgarve.com

This is almost everyone's dream. A cute little house right on the beach with the fishermen's boats or your own sailingboat in your garden. Sitting on your porch looking at the fascinating white skyline of Faro while you open another bottle of wine and put a few sardines on the grill.

They are not always architectural or iconic buildings, but houses with a soul. Custom made in styles ranging from semi-classic to a basic wooden shed and everything in between. The colors also go in all directions, just like sometimes the plants on the terraces or a cheerful dog greeting you from his terrace.

Stroll along the lagoon and enjoy the view on these beach houses, some of which I have tried to capture in the beginning of an overview....

A small neighborhood of only six terraced houses. It is a type of 'Cubist' house that you probably would expect in Olhao or Fuzeta, because of the typical flat roofs and the beautiful outside stairs on the side. There is even one house with a top on it: a mirant. The houses were built in 1968 by the Municipality of Faro for 'Savior Swimmers ' that worked on the beaches when the wealty people from Faro and the new tourists came here for swimming.

The pergolas on the street side are special. They are marked by two 'classic'-looking columns with wooden beams above them. The chimneys are special to, but more because of their Algarve appearance than because of what you would expect from a cubist house: namely a block chimney. The houses have 2 bedrooms, a living room, an open kitchen and a bathroom. Under the stairs is a storage room and there are two small patios

The plastered benches under the pergola and the beautifully curved fencing are touching, as is the tiling tableau that sets the tone as a half decorated platibanda.

A combination of a quite traditional house - because of the v-shaped openings that were typical during the 'Etado Novo' period - with subtle Post-Modernist details.

Especially because of the round profiled circles that emerge pontifically and symmetrically from the balcony parapets like large car wheels with a railing in the midle.

Clearly a building that manifests itself and also lets the sun shine into the street through its yellow accents.

This house reminds me of a Salvador Dali house. There are surprising details if you look a little bit longer. The roundings of the corners and the elegant lines at the transition from balcony edge to chimney. The subtle roof with protruding round roof tiles.

The massive wooden door that feels very Spanish, just like the arched gate of the garage. The side wall has a surprising staircase with an arch, but not the typical Portuguese one which is usually much tighter.

At this side, there are also roundings in the chimney, which seems to emerge halfway out of the facade like a white cypress. The small openings and shutters complete for me the Spanish atmosphere...

Once it was completely white (Photo 3.). Now the owner or tenant is busy with a transformation in areas of color that are vaguely reminiscent of Mondrian's work.

The work is not yet finished, but a varied palette of abstract rectangular surfaces (photo 2.) is slowly becoming more and more visible. Sometimes the supposed resident sits on the gallery and sometimes his dog keeps watching...

In the 1940s, major sports competitions organized by local recreational and sports clubs were held on the beach, attracting hundreds of people. Sporting events such as boxing matches, the “1o Cruzeiro da Ria de Faro”, a sailing event organized by Ginásio Clube Naval and the “Ria do Vale Formoso Tournament”, organized by Sport Lisboa e Faro.

There were several boats (photo 10 & 11) that sailed back and forth from “Portas do Mar” in Faro between the city and the beach, transporting large numbers of people to the beach every day. On weekends and especially on Sundays, the people of Faro went to the beach.

In addition to various measures to improve the beach, in 1937 there was the inauguration of alanding stage on the island and the opening in 1945 of the Esplanade casino “Miramar” (photo 9), which not only served the many tourists but also the place where cultural and recreational events were held. In 1958, the Refúgio ABOIM / ASCESÃO / Shelter for children was established in the adjacent building - with its shell roofs. Probably based on a design by 'state architect' Jorge Gomes de Oliveira.