We received a remarkable set of images documenting what appears to be the very first meeting of architects involved in the Bom Sucesso Resort project, in Óbidos. The photos are dated 7 February 2004, a moment that marks one of the earliest milestones in the conception of what would become one of Portugal’s most ambitious experiments in contemporary architecture. These Images architects Bom Sucesso Resort capture a significant moment in time.
What makes this especially striking is the pace that followed. Less than a year later, in December 2004, the architects presented their first models and project concepts in a public exhibition at the Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB) in Lisbon. To imagine the transition—from early sketches and on-site discussions in February to a curated architectural exhibition by the end of the same year—illustrates the extraordinary momentum behind Bom Sucesso’s vision.
In the images, we can see that the group first gathered in the parking lot of Óbidos, just outside the castle walls. After initial introductions they switched to 4×4 vehicles to visit the land that would become Bom Sucesso Resort—a vast, open landscape at the time, without roads, infrastructure, or a single building delivered.
These photos capture the project at its very origin: the architects literally stepping into the landscape that they would soon transform.
Looking at the faces of this talented group of architects, you can sense their joy and enthusiasm for the new project, which brought together different generations and two architectural lineages — from the Lisbon and Porto schools. This meeting was more than a site visit; it was the beginning of a creative dialogue between some of the most important figures in Portuguese contemporary architecture.
In the photos and early documentation, we can identify the following participants:
- Alcino Soutinho
- Álvaro Siza Vieira
- Atelier dos Remédios – Madalena Cardoso de Menezes and Francisco Teixeira Bastos
- João Luís Carrilho da Graça
- Eduardo Souto de Moura
- Nuno Graça Moura
- Rogério Cavaca
- Rui Passos
- Luís Pessanha Moreira
- Ren Ito — who at the time worked in Siza Vieira’s studio (2004–2011) and later authored Álvaro Siza Design Process: Quinta do Bom Sucesso Housing Project, a detailed study of Siza’s contribution to the resort.
These early encounters represent the genesis of what Bom Sucesso would become: a unique architectural landscape, where dozens of individual houses, each designed by a different architect, coexist within a cohesive masterplan—blending experimentation, dialogue, and the optimism of Portuguese modernism at the turn of the century.
