July 21, 2025

Honouring the Art of Water: BACA architects Meets D’ORO at GBB Venture Portugal

At GBB Venture Portugal, BACA’s director Richard Coutts had the honour of meeting Salvatore Giorgio Dino, who recognised the practice’s long-standing commitment to water-inspired architecture. Knowing that our projects are created on, in, near, or even under water, he introduced Richard to D’ORO’s latest masterpiece, The Golden Waves, a publication rooted in oceans, coasts, and the elegance of architectural storytelling.

D’ORO’s work is widely celebrated for its luxury architectural craftsmanship, seen in its hand-embossed copper covers and delicate lithographs produced for state institutions from the Vatican to the US and UK. The Golden Waves continues this tradition, capturing bodies of water with such purity that no filters or edits are ever applied. Once printed, the negatives are destroyed, ensuring that every image becomes as rare and irreplaceable as the most exclusive floating architecture projects.

Turning the pages is typically a gloved experience, reflecting the level of artistry present in these creations. Yet an exception was made for an architect whose world revolves around coastal architecture design, allowing Richard to feel the texture of the lithographs directly. Their layered surfaces, subtle but perceptible, mimic the softness of a still lake, a tactile reminder of nature’s quiet complexity.

This meeting resonated deeply with us, as our design philosophy is inseparable from water. Whether through water-inspired architecture or through personal artistic pursuits, the studio’s fascination with water continues to shape every project. Each brushstroke on canvas, each innovation in practice, becomes part of an ongoing conversation about the beauty, depth, and enduring significance of the world’s oceans and waterways.