The book Vamos ao Lyrico brings together a collection of texts by different authors on the built complex of the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, embodying a research work that presents current perspectives on the conservation of historic theatres, reveals the latest research on the Teatro de São Carlos, and at the same time proposes a strategy for the conservation and renewal of the Lisbon Opera House.

As an artefact, the book was conceived to accommodate diverse types of content, prioritising above all ease of reading and reference. Yet, since it concerns an architectural monument, the graphic choices also underline the architectural dimension of the subject. This is particularly reinforced in the moments where the visual intervention does not risk overlapping with the content — namely, on the cover, the index, the dividers and the chapter openings.

The cover, in particular, presents itself as a graphic interpretation of the interior-exterior binary — a central concern in architectural thinking: from the outside, the main façade of the Theatre spans the entire visible plane, in a visual staging drawn in black line — a language familiar to the projective grammar of architecture; inside, on a plane initially invisible, one discovers, before diving into the text, the main performance hall, the Theatre's most privileged space.

Without losing sight of its function as a book, the graphic design of Vamos ao Lyrico stands as a visual homage to a theatre that so finely represents the national heritage.