Thisispaper Community
Join today.
Enter your email address to receive the latest news on emerging art, design, lifestyle and tech from Thisispaper, delivered straight to your inbox.
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Instant access to new channels
The top stories curated daily
Weekly roundups of what's important
Weekly roundups of what's important
Original features and deep dives
Exclusive community features
Leça Swimming Pools by Álvaro Siza Vieira
@zaxarovcom
May 21, 2020

The Leça Swimming Pool is an internationally recognised complex completed in 1966. It was designed by Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza and is considered as one of his greatest early works.

With a great respect for the natural rocky coastline of Matosinhos, a small town to the north of Porto, Alvaro Siza created one of his first solo projects. Situated on the beaches of Leça de Palmeira, The Leça Swimming Pool  stands as a multi-functional complex, that satisfy the needs of vacationers. It consists of changing rooms, a café and two swimming pools, one for adults and one for children. When contemplating on the concept and planning the modern interventions, Alvaro aimed to preserve as much of a large portion of the existing rock formations as possible.

With a great theoretical and practical skills, he was able to create a perfect blend of the complex with the natural landscape. The Leça Swimming Pool welcomes its visitors with a smooth concrete ramp, which is parallel to the road. Following the corridors to the shower stalls and changing rooms, the robust concrete walls were built to provide a sufficient privacy. Going further, the adult swimming pool amaze with its low concrete walls and natural rock formations, which are spread along its edges. From almost every angle, the ocean’s edge blur with the water level of the pool, what enhance the swimmer’s experience and blurs their understanding of the nature and the idea of a man-made world.

No items found.
Join +
We love less
but there is more.
Become a Thisispaper+ member today to unlock full access to our magazine, advanced tools, and support our work.
Travel Guides
Submission Module
Print Archive
Curated Editions
+ more
Buy now
No items found.
@zaxarovcom
May 21, 2020

The Leça Swimming Pool is an internationally recognised complex completed in 1966. It was designed by Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza and is considered as one of his greatest early works.

With a great respect for the natural rocky coastline of Matosinhos, a small town to the north of Porto, Alvaro Siza created one of his first solo projects. Situated on the beaches of Leça de Palmeira, The Leça Swimming Pool  stands as a multi-functional complex, that satisfy the needs of vacationers. It consists of changing rooms, a café and two swimming pools, one for adults and one for children. When contemplating on the concept and planning the modern interventions, Alvaro aimed to preserve as much of a large portion of the existing rock formations as possible.

With a great theoretical and practical skills, he was able to create a perfect blend of the complex with the natural landscape. The Leça Swimming Pool welcomes its visitors with a smooth concrete ramp, which is parallel to the road. Following the corridors to the shower stalls and changing rooms, the robust concrete walls were built to provide a sufficient privacy. Going further, the adult swimming pool amaze with its low concrete walls and natural rock formations, which are spread along its edges. From almost every angle, the ocean’s edge blur with the water level of the pool, what enhance the swimmer’s experience and blurs their understanding of the nature and the idea of a man-made world.

Architecture
section is proudly under the patronage of:
John Pawson

Independent publications like Thisispaper rely on support by readers and companies to be sustainable.

Current patron of Architecture Section:

If you are ready to book a slot, please use the following link:
Become a Patron

Introducing OS
An intimate space which helps creative minds thrive.
Discover. Share. Embrace.
Thisispaper Shop
Shop Now
Thisispaper+Guides
Discover the most inspiring places and stories through carefully-curated travel guides.
Explore all GuidesExplore channels