Rua Santa Catarina in a Mix of Styles in Porto
2023-07-01
I made this watercolor on the corner of Rua Santa Catarina. It was one of those days we set aside just to walk around downtown. That’s where you find one of the things I love most here in Porto. The mix of different eras in the city’s architecture.
On one side, the more romantic feel of traditional little houses standing side by side. The more modernist buildings, or the more brutalist ones, can be spotted around there too. It only takes a 15-minute walk through the downtown streets.
I really like those little details on the corners of buildings. How the city moves around them, how needs have shaped themselves around them over time. The mess of some clumsy, temporary urban mobility plan that disrupts a street. And other solutions that end up sticking around, lasting decades without losing their function.
There, at the end of Rua Santa Catarina, is the example of the Perfecta building. With its modernist look, the 1950s signage is one of the city’s landmarks.
I particularly love this angle of the street. Seeing the sign, the tram cables, and in the background, the imposing building of the Coliseu do Porto.