ArchiTourAlgarve - Architectural walking Tour Ilha / Praia de Faro

Architectural walking Tour Ilha / Praia de Faro

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ArchiTourAlgarve - Architectural walking Tour Ilha / Praia de Faro

Faro, Faro 8005-520, Portugal

Created By: ArchiTourAlgarve

Tour Information

The architectural walking Tour Ilha / Praia de Faro

Ilha/Praia de Faro is part of Barra de Anção. It is about 8 km long and between 50 and 250 m wide. The island was almost deserted until the mid-19th century, after which a number of fishermen began to settle here. Until the 1960s, only fishermen lived on the island. In 1956, the island was transferred from the Maritime Domain to the Municipality of Faro, which provided the necessary infrastructure. Before the bridge was constructed in 1959, transport between Faro and the island was arranged via a ferry service, which departed from the 'Portas do Mar' landing stage in Faro.

For years the beach was used at weekends as a getaway for the wealthy people in Faro, but after the construction of the bridge and a bus service, the number of second homes (legal or illegal) on the island increased significantly. The western part of the island remained the area of the fishermen and the eastern part the zone for holiday homes and apartments.

It was during this period that a number of projects by architect Manuel Gomes da Costa were realized on the island. He designed the Hotel Aeromar and there are two beautiful villas in reasonable original condition to admire. There is also a villa by another 'modernist' architect António Vicente de Castro. There are also several villas in which the "visual language" of Manuel Gomes da Costa has been used, but which clearly differ in the 'specific details'. And then of course there are the various small beach houses with cozy terraces overlooking the lagoon or the Atlantic Ocean.

Go and find it out by your own with the architectural walking tour and discover the 'Miami Beach' of the Algarve with its special and varied buildings, its beach bars, restaurants and teracces. See here my video of a tour of the island.

Made by www.architouralgarve.com

Get information about a fysical tour: architouralgarve@gmail.com

Offer your tourguide a cup of coffee. Donate here

Other Tours from ArchiTourAlgarve on the PocketSights App:

* Faro - Pires & Brito Architecture Walking Tour

* Olhão - Cubist Architecture Walking Tour

* Olhão - Architecture Walking Tour: Monuments, Modernism & More

* Tavira - Modernist & More Architecture Walking Tour

* Vila Real de Santo António (VRSA) - Modernist & More Architecture Walking Tour

* Loulé - Modernist & More Architecture Walking Tour

* Fuseta - Architecture Walking Tour

* Huelva (Spain) - Architecture Walking Tour


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What You'll See on the Tour

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... Read more
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 s... Read more
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, ... Read more
Traditional house with a surprising side of Brise-soleil that gives the whole a modernist appearance. On the lagoon side a porch extension with above it a classic - typical Portuguese - round window with wrought iron decoration and a gate w... Read more
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 ha... Read more
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 ... Read more
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 1... Read more
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 san... Read more
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 year... Read more
One of the most beautiful villas on the island, this beach house that architect Manuel Gomes da Costa designed for António Pires and his family in 1959 on the lagoon side. Beautiful open carport and the always refreshingly 'modern-lookin... Read more
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 ... Read more
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 distance like an attempt to approach the world-famous Chapel Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp by a... Read more
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 ... Read more
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 ... Read more
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 wit... Read more
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 pontificall... Read more
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 protrudin... Read more
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 su... Read more
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 or... Read more
Offer your Tourguide a cup of coffee through this donation link:  For information about a personal Tour: architouralgarve@gmail.com ...

 

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