Latest posts for Lisbon

After three months and a few weeks on the road I ended my Light World Tour in Porto, so this is actually might last post as a world traveller. What this trip was and involved went beyond my expectations. It was an amazing learning lesson and a privileged experience on lighting and this will definitely remain unforgettable for the rest of my life.

There are two Pritzker Portuguese winners based in Porto, the architect Álvaro Siza awarded in 1992 and architect Eduardo Souto de Moura in 2011. They have quite a vast and diverse work so without having the chance to cover everything (I would need another Light tour just for this) I decided to pick Casa da Música (House of Music), a project by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas that has won the Pritzker Award in 2000.

To celebrate my 100th post I decided to go to Oporto for the very end of my Light World Tour. 315 km north of Lisbon, we actually call it Cidade Invicta (Unvanquished / unbeaten city) or Porto which means literally Port from where the Port Wine takes its name from. Located along Douro River it is another city where life is very much connected to water.

In a country very much connected to water and the ocean I had several reasons to go to the Oceanário de Lisboa (Lisbon Oceanarium): as much diverse my Light World Tour has been I hadn´t covered yet lighting underwater and they have a new extension to house temporary exhibitions that I was keen to visit. Plus, I´ve been before and I never get tired of watching the fish swimming in their massive tank.

I met up with João Luís Carrilho da Graça (JLCG), an award winning architect who has a very extensive and diverse work in Portugal and internationally, for a short conversation on light and architecture. On architecture and light JLCG referred James Turrel who sees light as a mean to define space regardless of the light source, either being nature or man-made technology. This is how JLCG interprets lighting in his buildings.

After the initial shock, I felt happy to be home. Lisbon is such an inspiring capital that is hard to become indifferent to this city. And now seeing it under a ´new light´ it seemed more charming than ever. Inhabited since the Neolithic t is a city with seven hills crossed by the wide river Tagus and its natural port was always an important feature of the city. The river and the ocean at Lisbon doors´ are a constant presence in the city that you can actually admire from various perspectives and different highpoints

Returning back home and stopping traveling was a great shock for me. I started having the blues. On the first days I was back I dreamt that I was about to miss flights! And lying on my bed I would wake up in the middle of the night wanting to check my itinerary and my next destination to realize that I was already back home.

I’m Paula Rainha from Lisbon, Portugal. I’m a full trained architect but I did an MSc in Light & Lighting in London, where I’ve worked as a lighting designer for 5 years.