Socorro, Portugal
In Portugal, during the 1930s, the automobile’s use as a means of transportation increased in main urban centers. Seen as a symbol of bourgeoisie economic power, successive inventions and innovations changed the relationship between humans and the machine, which became reflected in urban renovation and architectural models. Architects were inspired by the aesthetic of the machine to create the foundations of new artistic movements, expressed in the use of pure geometric forms, and experiment with the possibilities of iron and reinforced concrete to develop other functional programs, conceiving buildings with volumetric expression and renovating architectonic styles or even developing new ones.This paper focuses on introducing the automobile in the city, which resulted in a new building typology: the garage, where different services coexisted, responding to a program of requirements that promoted a functional and modern architecture in the 1930s. In order to analyze this issue, two different garages in Porto are compared: the innovative and pioneering project of the garage belonging to the newspaper O Comércio do Porto, designed by Rogério de Azevedo (1898-1987), which is a paradigmatic example of an unprecedented program in the city, that aligns itself with the international context and other emerging programs; and the Garage Passos Manuel, by Mário de Abreu architect (1908-1969), that follows the existing model of building with diverse functions, seeking a high financial profit for their owners and portrays the policies for urban development.
© 2001-2025 Fundación Dialnet · Todos los derechos reservados