Alvaro Siza
An emotional dimension:
Born in Oporto in 1933, Alvaro Siza Vieira studied there, then opened his architectural practice in the same city in 1958. Since then, he has continued to give life in a coherent way to the heritage of modern syntax while demonstrating that there are many ways of interpreting our architectural heritage. This concept earned him the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1992.
His reserved and deceptively calm architecture is evidence of his sensitivity about place, form, light, space. His buildings stand like sculptures in the landscape and are structured in immaculate, homogenous volumes. However, a few inflexions, penetrations, depths or breaks presage the complexity of the interior spaces.
Siza’s architecture demonstrates his ability to achieve the essence of things. One of his first constructions, the Boa Nova Restaurante, at the seaside of Leça de Palmeira (1958-1963) is a protective architecture which brings to life in a sophisticated way the powerful presence of the site into which it fits without succumbing to mimicry.
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Museo Nacional de Arte Moderna / Porto
Alvaro Siza architect |
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Next came an important, multiple project, with the bank building at Vila do Condo, the architecture college in Oporto, the Museum of Modern Art in Santiago de Compostela and the reconstruction of the Chiado in Lisbon. All these projects show that the architectural part respects the site, the topography and existing typologies, which are then transformed or adapted. The Serralves Foundation in Oporto (see picture) (1991-1999) intrigues and charms at the same time. The clarity and functional efficiency combine with the aesthetic qualities of the forms that symbolise them.
According to Siza, "if architecture is an art, then it requires artistic freedom". No work of an architect states this more clearly than the Portuguese Pavilion at Expo 98 in Lisbon. It is a spectacular architectural gesture with apparent simplicity exalting with brilliance and distinction the powerful symbolic value of the building.
«Architecture rarely or even never comes free», proclaims Siza. “It creates links with everything that is around it, although that may not be apparent, obvious or formal. That architecture lives in a world of simplicity and magic.”
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