Brutalist Discovery Tour on the Campus da Penha of the University of the Algarve in Faro

Video of the Brutalist Discovery Tour on Campus da Penha during the recent Modernist Weekend in Faro.

We discovered this hidden Brutalist gem during a guided walk across Campus da Penha, the first university complex of the University of the Algarve, built in the 1970s and embodying a distinctly Portuguese late-modernist vision.

The raw concrete structures, sweeping sightlines, and open structuralist spaces reflect the ambitions of that era, revealed in this piece of modern heritage in Faro.

We debated a striking name for this form of Brutalism — not entirely shaped according to the ‘classic’ norms — suggesting options such as Tropical Brutalism, Brutalismo Suave, or Structuralist Brutalism.

Our guides were:

• Francesca Vita — interior designer, researcher, and lecturer at the University of the Algarve. Since 2023, she has been leading modernist-architecture tours with The Modernist.

• Pedro Calado — architect and professor at the School of Education of the University of the Algarve. He is currently the director of ESEC and specialises in audiovisual and media production.