Alfragide Towers

The Alfragide Towers (Portuguese: Torres de Alfragide) are a set of residential buildings in Alfragide, Amadora, Portugal. The complex consists of three residential towers and a shopping centre at ground level, connecting the three buildings. It also contains an underground car park and a complex of swimming pools, currently unused. It is an example of brutalism-influenced architecture.[1]

Alfragide Towers
East tower. The stone building in the foreground is part of the Águas Livres Aqueduct
General information
TypeResidential flats
Architectural styleBrutalism
LocationAmadora, Portugal
Coordinates38°43′59.1708″N 9°13′4.71″W
Construction started1968
Completed1974
Technical details
MaterialReinforced concrete
Design and construction
ArchitectConceição Silva and Tomás Taveira

Buildings

The three residential towers have different heights, ranging from 10 to 15 floors. Each tower's footprint is similar to a four-leaf clover, with a central services core featuring stairs, elevators and garbage chutes, and four "subtowers" stemming from the core. The apartments feature different layouts, including single-storey flats and two-storey maisonettes.

The two-storey shopping centre at ground level features shops, cafés, and offices. Until the late 1980s it also featured a cinema, currently closed.

Architecture

Tomás Taveira was the main architect responsible for the project, while working at Conceição Silva's architectural practice.[2] He cites James Stirling as his main influence for this project, especially the University of Leicester's Engineering Building.[3] The project also shares similarities with Alison and Peter Smithson's Robin Hood Gardens estate and Denys Lasdun's Keeling House.[4]

  • North tower. The entrance to the shopping centre is visible on the lower right corner
  • Sculpture at ground level
  • Balconies, detail
  • South tower, as seen from the north
  • North tower, detail
  • East tower as seen from street level

References
  1. Figueira, Jorge (2009). "A periferia perfeita : pós-Modernidade na arquitectura portugusa, anos 60 - anos 80" (in Portuguese). Universidade de Coimbra. Retrieved 12 July 2019. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. Fiúza, Filipa. "Um projecto inglês: a influência da arquitectura anglo-saxónica nas Torres de Alfragide". Repositório ISCTE-IUL (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  3. Cardim, João; Fiúza, Filipa (2012). "The Alfragide Towers (1968-74) by Atelier Conceição Silva: A middle-class housing case study in Portugal". Symposium Middle-Class Housing in Perspective, Politecnico di Milano, 22-23 November 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  4. Fiúza, Filipa. "Alfragide Towers: a British design". Jornal Arquitectos (242). Retrieved 11 July 2019.


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