After a long period of decadence, the stately old Lisbon evoked by the actress and fado singer Amália Rodrigues has become a popular destination that already threatens to eclipse foci of tourist obsession like Venice and Barcelona. An unbeatable example of this metamorphosis is the recent completion of the concrete cruise terminal on the banks of the Tagus River estuary, a project assigned to the consistently efficient and exquisite architect João Luís Carrilho da Graça after he won the 2010 competition.

Careful to maintain views over the Alfama district and the old docks of the city from the rooftop platform, the terminal takes the shape of a simple and compact two-story volume, connected to the elevated railway network by two pedestrian footbridges and given a color and a scale that resonate as much with the Portuguese capital’s characteristic profile as with its no less typical tones.