In Roque Gameiro’s footsteps

[Guest post by Pedro Loureiro and Pedro Alves in Lisbon, Portugal]

Roque Gameiro (1864-1935) was a talented Portuguese watercolourist who moved from his native town of Minde to the capital Lisbon to study and work. He arrived in the capital in a time of industrial and technological progress. A series of changes were happening around him that shocked his perception of the cityscape.

(Top image: Encarnação convent – Pedro Alves)

Rua da Mouraria – Pedro Loureiro

Being the artist that he was, and, much like an urban sketcher of old, having an acute awareness of his surroundings, he decided that he wanted to immortalize the Lisbon that he never wanted to fade. For that purpose, he went to the streets of the most traditional districts of the capital and sketched and painted them in watercolour, full of life and history as they were. He later compiled all those works in a single book called Lisboa Velha (Old Lisbon).

Arco escuro – Pedro Alves

Based on that compilation, urban sketcher and architect Pedro Cabral challenged the Portuguese urban sketchers to go out into the streets of Lisbon and sketch the same exact spots that Roque Gameiro had sketched in the early 20th century. The result is an immense body of work that is still growing and will continue to grow until the end of November, when the challenge comes to an end. By this time, the Portuguese sketchers will have recorded the visions of Roque Gameiro and will have enough material to properly compare what has changed and what was kept in the span of almost a century in the old town of Lisbon.

Beco do Castelo – Pedro Loureiro

We are lucky enough to be working in an office located in one of the most central locations of the city, right above the Rossio central train station. As such, each day of the past, long, Portuguese summer, we challenged each other to go out and sketch one of the Roque Gameiro locations during our lunch breaks. It was tough at first, as we had to get the sketch done in little under half an hour (if we wanted to eat something)! Later it became as addictive as catching Pokemon, we just wanted to collect every nearby Roque (as we are affectionately calling them now)!

Rua de São Pedro Mártir – Pedro Alves

As we’re nearing the end of the challenge, we realize just how rewarding it was to go out and force ourselves to capture these sights, interpret Roque Gameiro’s view of the city and develop our skills in sketching quickly, accurately, all the while trying to master the tough perspectives of narrow streets and the deep tints and shades of the crooked, picturesque buildings.

Largo da Achada – Pedro Loureiro

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Pedro Alves and Pedro Loureiro are both architects and working together in the same company as architecture illustrators in Lisbon, Portugal. They’re both members of 葡萄牙城市素描家协会. You can see more of Pedro Alves’ and Pedro Loureiro’s work on their blogs 这里 和 这里 或 Instagram 这里 和 这里.