If you happen to be traveling to the beautiful country of Portugal, then you may have had a chance to see an incredibly simple, yet beautiful art installation. Here is a set of some very beautiful-colorful pictures of umbrellas hung on top of streets in the city of Águeda, Portugal by Patricia Almeida, posted on flickr. I don’t really know anything about this art-type installation but would like to find out more, good old Google wasn’t much help. I would like to know if it’s part of a festival or are the streets always lined with these colorful umbrellas?
We’ll just call this the Águeda, Portugal umbrella art installation. The colorful umbrellas are placed up high in the air over the city streets using wires. The umbrellas provide a colorful visual effect that one finds in a fairy tale movie and I’m sure they also provide much needed shade from the hot summer sun. I think the pictures look beautiful and just walking in these city streets should be enough to put a smile on your face, how come cities in North America don’t do cool stuff like this?
Update (thanks to our friends at Borderless Travelers): The umbrellas had been placed on top of the streets of the main shopping drag in the town center. The “art installation” is the work of designer Ivo Tavares, who wanted to give the boring streets a colorful and cheerful look. And it worked, not only do these umbrellas give a cheerful feeling to shoppers (and even us, looking at the pictures) but also provided shade for people walking in the streets yet allowing enough light and air to make the streets feel welcoming.
[Photos: Patricia Almeida, Diana Tavares]
