We decided to throw ourselves into this tentative site a little more by staying in an apartment in the Barrio da Bouca in Porto, located a short walk (or two metro stops) from the centre of the city.

I rather liked the unique layout and aesthetics of the estate, squeezed into a triangle of ground, it was densely populated but provided ample space between buildings, and the units themselves were pleasant and spacious. The interiors offered design touches that separated it from your standard holiday rental. I liked the sliding wall that separates a bedroom from the main living space, and the wooden shutters across the doors and windows were both very functional and aesthetically pleasing, bringing back fond memories of Casa Barragan. 

The car park buried underneath the whole complex was a lovely solution to parking concerns in a dense urban setting. The small business units also brought some more interest to the estate, especially the lovely little architecture book shop. In the three days we stayed there we saw plenty of guided tours, seemingly for students, where lecturers were pointing out the finer details of the site.

However there certainly were flaws. The bathrooms being buried in the centre of the units must be plagued by mold (as ours was) due to the lack of fresh air and ventilation. The bannister free staircases, whilst visually appealing, certainly make this parent of a rampaging toddler very happy to live in the UK with its building codes that forbid such structures. Similarly the external staircases, whilst offering a decorative quality seemed a little too steep to be useful to me, and whilst there was ample space between the blocks these communal open spaces felt a little desolate.

Did it pass the liveability test, i.e. if I was to relocate to Porto would I contemplate living in one?

Yes, I would. My wife (as ever the sane one in our relationship) who has a keen eye for modernist architectural aesthetics however said the place reminded her of a dystopian prison block, so I guess the final answer would be a no.