Gas Station

According to recent correspondences with the Fundação Marques da Silva, DOCOMOMO international painfully realizes that the Gas Station in Lugar de Covas by Fernando Távora is under threat of destruction.

The energy company Galp Energia made ​​a request for amendment to the Municipality of Guimarães, which included the demolition of the original concrete mud flaps and replacement with new metal mud flaps. Although Galp claims that the original mud flaps, designed by architect Fernando Tavora do not fulfill the height required by law, International Docomomo believes it can continue to be used effectively thus preserving this landmark work of architecture and engineering Guimarães and Portugal.

The Gas Station is part of the outstanding architectural legacy that Fernando Távora left in Portugal. Fernando Távora, one of the major figures of contemporary Portuguese architecture, made ​​the synthesis between the national traditional architecture and the international Modern Movement architecture. He was an author of continuity, for whom an architectural work must be understood in the context of the surrounding environment. The gas station, as part of his legacy, reinforces the theme of programmatic range of the Fernando Tavora’s architectural work and the Modern Movement itself.

DOCOMOMO International Chair, professor Ana Tostões, addressed a letter to the Galp director, Mr. Américo Amorim, and to the Mayor Domingos Bragança (Guimarães Municipality), concerning the Gas Station´s treat of destruction.