Manoel de Oliveira Cinema House

The House of Film in Porto was commissioned by the local municipality for the organization and preservation of the works of filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira (*1908) - a significant figure in world cinema, regarded as a precursor to neorealism.
The house represents a notable change in the architectural work of Souto de Moura. Perhaps it was influenced by a specific construction program - it is neither a standard gallery nor a family house. The building was designed as a tribute to cinematography - the most important element of the interior is the manipulation of light. Souto de Moura illuminates and shades the individual spaces using blinds, experimenting with directing light into the interior - two windows, whose frames are generously extended beyond the surface of the facade, evoke filmmakers' cameras and their depth allows for observing interesting light scenes during the day. In Souto de Moura's portfolio, there are not many plastic compositions until the realization of Cinema House. He was an advocate of classical orthogonal layouts, perhaps influenced by Mies. Cinema House seemingly shifted his perspective on architecture towards more playful structures.
The building with two "cameras" contains a library with a film archive and a small auditorium. The form of the "cameras" was influenced by the view of the ocean. On the opposite side of the street, the fifteen-story apartment buildings predetermined the angle of rotation for the cameras. The strongly bounded predetermined views to the exterior are meant to symbolize the world of film, which does not represent reality comprehensively, but extracts the most interesting moments from it.