Photos: Dale Cruse - 10M views from San Francisco, CA, USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 Dietmar Rabich, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 KaiBorgeest, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo credits
Photos: Dale Cruse - 10M views from San Francisco, CA, USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 Dietmar Rabich, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 KaiBorgeest, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Modern Porto architecture, from Casa da Música to Siza's school
Your local guide
Mariana Costa
View profile
Highlights
- Casa da Música, the concert hall by Rem Koolhaas
- Souto de Moura's granite metro stations
- Modernist houses of the 1950s around Boavista
- Siza's architecture faculty above the Douro
- The Arrábida bridge, seen from the faculty gardens
About this tour
This session covers modern Porto architecture, from Casa da Música and the city's granite metro stations to the modernist houses of Boavista and Siza's architecture faculty above the Douro. The camera circles Koolhaas's concert hall, takes in a metro station's stone platform, and finishes in the faculty gardens looking toward the Arrábida bridge. It is a route through the city's twentieth-century buildings rather than its historic centre.
After a sound check, the guide moves through the four buildings in order, explaining the architects and ideas behind each one, with live questions taken throughout. A short list of the buildings and architects named is sent once the session ends.
This suits anyone with an interest in architecture or design, whether planning a visit built around these buildings or simply curious how Porto looks beyond its old town.
Included
- Live video walk with a local guide
- Questions to your guide all the way
- A short list of places to visit later
Not included
- Internet connection
- Travel to the city
Itinerary
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Welcome and sound check 10 min
The guide joins the video call, checks the picture and sound with you, and gives you a quick sense of Porto before heading out.
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Casa da Música 21 min
The camera circles the angular concrete form of Casa da Música, and the guide explains how Rem Koolhaas designed the building to stand apart from the traditional square it sits beside.
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A granite metro station 21 min
At one of the city's granite metro stations, the camera takes in Souto de Moura's stripped-back design, and the guide explains how his stations use the same stone found across older Porto buildings.
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Modernist houses in Boavista 21 min
Walking through Boavista, the camera passes a row of 1950s modernist houses, and the guide points out the flat roofs and clean lines that set them apart from Porto's older streets.
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Siza's faculty and the Arrábida bridge 21 min
From the gardens of Siza's architecture faculty above the Douro, the camera looks out toward the Arrábida bridge, and the guide talks about how the building's concrete terraces step down the hillside.
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Your questions 18 min
Time to ask anything about Porto: prices, safety, food, or whatever you are curious about.
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A short list to keep 8 min
Before you go, the guide sums up with a few things worth remembering: a dish to try: Francesinha and Vila Nova de Gaia, worth a slower look.
Good to know
- A stable wifi or mobile connection makes the picture smoother than a shaky one.
- Any phone, tablet or laptop with a camera works. You watch, the guide does the walking.
- Times are shown in Lisbon time, so check the time where you are before you book.
- The session is not recorded, and recording it yourself is not allowed. Feel free to take your own notes.
- Ask questions any time, out loud or in the chat. The guide will pause to answer.
- Sessions run in small groups, up to 10 people, so there is room for everyone to ask something.
Questions about this tour
What will the session cover?
The guide walks through Porto, showing you São Bento Station and Ribeira live on camera, plus whatever else you would like to see.
What happens if my connection drops?
Rejoin with the same link within a few minutes and the guide will catch you up on anything you missed.
Can I ask the guide questions during the session, or is it a fixed script?
Anything, any time. Sessions leave room for your own questions throughout, not just at the end.
Do I need any background in art?
No. The guide explains what matters as you go, whatever you already know or do not.
How it works
- You get one join link after booking.
- Join from any device: phone, tablet or laptop.
- We meet on Google Meet; the link comes with your booking. I walk Porto live with my phone and you ask anything as we go.
Times shown in Lisbon time (WET)
Cancellation
Flexible
- Cancel up to 24 hours before the start: full refund.
- Cancel less than 24 hours before the start, or no-show: no refund.
- If the guide cancels or the date does not reach its minimum group: full refund.
- Cancel in My Account → Bookings; the refund is calculated from the start time in the tour's local time.
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Only travellers who booked and paid through Locals Guide and whose tour took place can leave a review, within 60 days of the tour. Every review is marked "Verified booking". We check reviews before they appear and publish positive and negative ones alike; we remove only reviews that break our rules (insults, personal data, unrelated content). Guides cannot pay for, edit or hide reviews, and ratings are the plain average of all published reviews.
Next: Tue 3 Nov · 10 seats left From 24,00 €
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