Mercado Municipal de Matosinhos

This guide to the Mercado Municipal de Matosinhos follows the wartime gamble behind its concrete vault, designed from 1936 by the ARS group of architects as steel grew scarce for a Portugal caught in the shortages of the Second World War. You'll hear how the engineers reshaped the curve itself to push the roof's weight sideways rather than down, and why construction dragged on for years before the market finally opened. It ends among the fish stalls and ceramic panels the roof still lights today.