Porto, is like a gigantic time capsule, filled with all things vintage and abandoned, yet beautifully mesmerizing. I particularly fond of this department store. Here are some trivia about the building and its architect:
‘’Armazéns Cunhas is a department store on the Praça de Lisboa (‘Novelties, We Sell Cheaper’ is its motto) with a lovely 1930s front featuring a huge peacock. Manuel Marques designed over 150 projects throughout his career, some individually and others in cooperation with fellow colleagues.
Some of his most known projects include the Barbearia Tinoco (a Barber’s), in Sá da Bandeira Street (1929), Vitália Chemist, at 34-37 Liberdade Square (1932), a joint project with Amoroso Lopes, in a modern-style building with a geometric façade, the Armando Peres House, in 1933, and the Armazéns Cunhas (Department Stores) (1933-1936), at 14/22 Gomes Teixeira Square, in cooperation with Amoroso Lopes and Coelho Freitas. This project involved the combination of three 19th century buildings with one single façade in Art Déco. On 26 March 1927 he was appointed Professor of Decoration at the Porto School of Fine Arts. In 1947, following the suggestion of Joaquim Lopes, he was temporarily assigned to Sculpture after the death of the office-holder. He was also a member of the Aesthetics Committee of the Porto City Hall. He died on 11 October 1956.’’
