Houses of Porto

The city’s topography and the essence of its urban core, perched on the hills of Pena Ventosa and Vitória and cascading downwards to the river, present a most delightful view. Indeed, this striking cityscape has become a veritable topos. The mingling colors and shapes that are so much a part of the image of Porto are the result of successive transformations to the intricate maze of streets making up the original medieval city, through which new, roughly regular roads have been cut. These overlapping alignments, and changes to the individual character of the buildings, have led to an accumulation of volumes, with diverse orientations and features, together forming the composition we see today, which gives the city its identity.