With a façade that resembles the strobing effect that a newsreader’s dodgy tie can incur, Braga’s new building for the Instituto Empresarial do Minho (Minho Enterprises Institute), courtesy of Manuel Graça Dias + Egas José Vieira Arquitectos, is far from a vision of beauty, however, the intriguing optical effect created by the houndstooth/chessboard white and blue tiling mash-up offers the building a unique character that sets it apart from practically anything we’ve seen before. Captivating, unconventional, yet strangely compelling…..