Luztur, a singular building

José Veloso in a conversation with Raul Hestnes Ferreira about the building Veloso designed in the 70's
The strange outstanding presence of this building, viewed from the beach
Discovering, as we walk the interior paths
The stairs
Using the building public space
José Veloso with Raul Hestnes Ferreira, visiting the building

Luztur, a singular building | Luz - Lagos | 2017

In the beginning of the 70’s, XX Century, José Veloso designed a very special building in Luz, a small coast village, by the beach, near Lagos. At that time, as many others in Algarve, this small fishing village was starting to grow as a touristic beach destiny, with an almost Mediterranean atmosphere that was very seductive. It was the start of the Algarve touristic business, which inevitably revealed with time the contradictions of development, economic growth, local employment, capital investment, territory exploitation…
Very committed with what he considered to be the architecture social role and responsibility, politically left positioned and civically engaged, José Veloso was already aware of these contradictions when he was commissioned the design of a massive residential building for the touristic market target arising in this village.
He convinced the client to design this building with a set of public spaces and facilities, and a circulation system that could allow exterior public and urban paths to cross the building, enhancing its capacity of serving both the residential and its vicinity communities, so the building could benefit both tourist and local population, mixing them, providing interaction and exchanges.
At that time the building was big, and even today looks somehow awkward, out of scale in its place and surroundings. It has been disregarded since the very first times of its construction. With some reasons, we might accept.
But it is a very interesting building, designed in a beautiful spirit! People who live there look like living well and loving it.
I managed to meet José Veloso and told him I was very curious about the building. He was not expecting someone to contact 40 years later, asking him about such a disregarded work of his own. I was arriving at my 50’s, he was almost leaving his 80’s. We decided to make a book about the building, and we became friends. Two architects, Raul Hestnes Ferreira and Maria Francisca Balmori, and a film director, João Dias, joined the group, everyone excited about the unique qualities of this so intriguing building.

We all became friends, and these photos are part of the book we made together.


photos: Nuno Arenga