Montenegro Architects School of Technology and Management

The key feature of this building is a massive portico that floats over the university gardens. The structure arises from the combination of the two programmatic requirements. The need to create a corporate iconic image, and the inclusion of a set of amphitheatres. The result is achieved in one of the largest existing concrete porticos. In an article published in the New Yorker Design Magazine, CC Sullivan wrote: “Montenegro’s architecture it’s a bit surrealist, perhaps Giorgio de Chirico with a dash of M.C. Escher (…) concluding “the building never fails to create opportunities for reflection. The theatricality and grandeur are unmatched (…)” The project started in 2003 and finished in 2013. The School is located in the Campus of the Polytechnic Institute of Beja, in Portugal. The portico, over 50 meters long, was built using advanced prestressing techniques applied to reinforced concrete structure.