Reflections

In Lisbon you find antique and ultramodern buildings side by side. It’s just the way the city has evolved itself, layer by layer, block by block, building by building. Some would say that it’s a horrible way to plan and build a city. I don’t know. I tend to think that too much planning restricts freedom of choice and leads to monotonous, colourless suburbs. There are plenty of examples of those in Finland. The other extreme I’ve seen in Aveiro – I’ll show that to you another time.

But in Lisbon, São Sebastião, you’ll find the old and the new side by side like Ebony and Ivory – in perfect harmony. The antique buildings reflect in the mirror-like surface of the modern, showing a slightly distorted image that from some angles looks like a cubist work of art.

No, I wouldn’t say that it’s ugly. 

All photos Lisbon, 2015.