Nadir Afonso Art Museum, Chaves Building, Architecture Photography, Architect
Nadir Afonso Art Museum in Chaves
Gallery and Library Building, Portugal – design by Álvaro Siza Vieira
3 Oct 2016
Nadir Afonso Art Museum
Design: Álvaro Siza Vieira
Location: Chaves, Portugal
Nadir Afonso Art Museum
Photography: Joao Morgado Fotografia de Arquitectura
DESCRIPTIVE MEMORY

By Álvaro Siza Vieira
The Nadir Afonso Foundation, built in the city of Chaves, in a terrain located on the right bank of the Tâmega river, had its detailed planning elaborated within the ambit of the Polis programme.

The area destined to the building is located at the place of Longras, in the civil parish of Santa Maria Maior, and was established in the plan as a rectangle parallel to the riverbed, inside the future marginal park, between the new footpath/bike lane parallel to the 5 de Outubro avenue (northwest), the Dr. Mário Soares avenue (northeast), the new street layout parallel to the Longras street (southwest) and the river (southeast).
The main floor of the foundation building is placed over a concrete platform, 351,50 height, supported by walls perpendicular to the river, in order to prevent an eventual flood. The risk of an eventual flood should not be excluded. The height difference between the northwest street layout and the natural terrain is balanced by means of a ramp with a slight slop.

The main access to the foundation platform is made by means of a slight ramp with a slop of 6...