Some Kind of Romance, Any Kind of Existence

This book is a bifurcated journey through fifteen years of the architecture practice OODA, designed as a "dream state" inner dialogue between Some Kind of Romance and Any Kind of Existence: mirrored reflections of past and future projects that reflects the practice's work and exploring path from Porto to the world. Read together, these two parts are less about buildings than about a way of being in the world, offering an open narrative where architecture is presented as if in a chronicle, a journal. In Albania, it traces a transformative engagement with urban regeneration and identity reconstruction in a context of rapid urban change. In Portugal, it explores continuity through both rehabilitation and new construction, treating time, heritage, and landscape as active materials. Together, these two dimensions reveal a practice shaped by persistence and risk, belonging and transformation, grounded in place yet open to reinvention. OODA is an international architecture and urban design practice with offices in Portugal and Albania. Founded in 2010 in Porto, the studio of over sixty architects works across architecture and urban strategy, delivering residential, hospitality, office, cultural, and civic projects, as well as large-scale urban design and master planning. Recognized in international competitions, OODA combines conceptual rigor, contextual sensitivity, and collaboration to create lasting, globally engaged designs.