Paraninfo of the University

The assembly hall serves a university on a riverside site of new public buildings and parks. The Portuguese architect gave it a compact white volume that answers the larger towers nearby with a quieter presence.

Besides the ceremonial hall, the building holds rooms for meetings, exhibitions and administration. Long glazed galleries run along the facades and frame views of the river, the park and the hills beyond.

Pale stone wraps the outside, cut by deep horizontal openings and recessed entrances, while inside the walls are white and the floors are timber.