House in Quelfes

For years Portugal has captured the attention of the international architecture scene, but has also proven to be a breeding ground for architects beyond the great masters such as Fernando Távora, Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura. The famous Porto School has given way to a new generation of talented architects from other parts of the country, including the Aires Mateus brothers from Lisbon (2G 28, 2003) or the architect Paulo David from Madeira (2G 47, 2008). And from an even more recent generation comes another Lisboan, Ricardo Bak Gordon, who combines the best architecture of his own country with an awareness of what is happening abroad.

His works range from a large number of single-family homes that put great emphasis on domestic comfort – for example, the houses in Quelfes and Pousos, the two houses in Casa Queimada, or the two in Santa Isabel, Lisbon – to the magnificent series of renovations of various schools in Lisbon and Porto, and unique projects such as the residence of the Portuguese Embassy in Brasilia, the mill in Oliveira da Serra (Ferreira do Alentejo), Albarquel Park (Setúbal) and the FACIM waterfront in Maputo (Mozambique).

In this publication, Ricardo Bak Gordon’s works and projects are accompanied by texts from the architect himself, the critic Ricardo Carvalho and Britain's Jonathan Sergison (of Sergison Bates architects, 2G 34, 2005). In the Nexus section, Diogo Seizas Lopez summarises an interview with Bak Gordon on the architect's main interests.