Portugal’s Casa da Arquitectura, created in 2007, is a non-profit cultural organization with exhibition spaces and archives dedicated to the public interest in architecture. The Center’s archives currently holds a collection of over 500 drawings, books, models, serigraphs, DVDs, panels, and numerous other materials from the collections and estates of many architects (i.e., Souto de Moura, Álvaro Siza, Fernando Távora, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, João Álvaro Rocha, and more). This week, the center is celebrating the opening of its new location in Matosinhos, Porto, which consists of a group of buildings, measuring at approximately 4,700 square meters, restored by architect Guilherme Machado Vaz.

To mark the occasion of this grand re-opening, the museum planned three days of activities from November 17th to the 19th, with events ranging from guided tours, performance, talks and debates from national/international figures, live music and film screenings. Other events will include two exhibitions open to the public within the new gallery spaces, including the inaugural Poder Arquitectura (open until March 2018), organized by architects Jorge Carvalho, Pedro Bandeira and Ricardo Carvalho. Other events include “Please Share!” (organized by architect Roberto Cremascoli around the themes of architectural curating and editing), the showing of the film “Tudo é Projeto,” produced by the Casa da Arquitectura, Joana Mendes da Rocha and Patrícia Rubano, and an educational program centered around virtual and augmented reality from the University of Porto’s Digital Fabrication Lab of the Faculty of Architecture.