The Portuguese city of Guimara?es, designated a 2012 European Capital of Culture, can now claim an arts complex worthy of that title. Designed by local firm Pita?goras Arquitectos, the recently opened Plataforma das Artes e da Criatividade clads a series of stacked rectilinear volumes in striking brass screens, offering a gleaming venue for (among other things) music and theater performances, lectures, exhibitions, and a permanent art collection. pitagoras.pt