Álvaro Siza Vieira

Álvaro Joaquim de Melo Siza Vieira GOSE GCIH GCIP (born 25

June 1933) is a Portuguese architect, and architectural educator. He is
Álvaro Siza Vieira
internationally known as Álvaro Siza (Portuguese
pronunciation: [ˈalvɐɾu ˈsizɐ]) and in Portugal as Siza Vieira
(pronounced [ˈsizɐ ˈvjɐjɾɐ]).

Contents
Early life and education
Career
Teaching
Legacy
Recognition
Civil awards and decorations
Selected projects Álvaro Siza Vieira in 2012
Exhibitions Born Álvaro Joaquim de
Cultural references Melo Siza Vieira
25 June 1933
Bibliography
(age 87)
References Matosinhos, Portugal
External links Nationality Portuguese
Alma mater University of Porto

Early life and education Occupation Architect

Awards Pritzker Prize (1992),
Siza was born in Matosinhos, a small coastal town near Porto. He Royal Gold Medal
graduated in architecture in 1955, at the former School of Fine Arts of (2009), UIA Gold
the University of Porto, the current FAUP – Faculdade de Medal (2011),
Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto.
Golden Lion for
lifetime achievement
Career (2012), National
Architecture Award of
Siza completed his first built work (four houses in Matosinhos) even Spain (2019)
before ending his studies in 1954, the same year that he first opened
his private practice in Porto. Along with Fernando Távora, he soon Buildings Faculty of
became one of the references of the Porto School of Architecture Architecture, Porto
where both were teachers. Both architects worked together between
1955 and 1958. Another architect he has collaborated with is Eduardo Souto de Moura, e.g. on Portugal's
flagship pavilions at Expo '98 in Lisbon and Expo 2000 in Hannover, as well as on the Serpentine Pavillon
2005. Siza's work is often described as "poetic modernism";[1] he himself has contributed to publications on
Luis Barragán.
Among Siza's earliest works to gain public attention was a public pool
complex (named Piscinas de Marés) he created in the 1960s for Leça
da Palmeira, a fishing town and summer resort north of Porto.
Completed in 1966, both of the two swimming pools (one for
children, the other for adults) as well as the building with changing
rooms and a cafe are set into the natural rock formation on the site
with unobstructed views of the sea.[2] In 1977, following the
revolution in Portugal, the city government of Évora commissioned
Siza to plan a housing project in the rural outskirts of the town. It was
to be one of several that he would do for SAAL (Serviço de Apoio
Ambulatório Local), the national housing association, consisting of "Bonjour Tristesse" apartments,
1,200 low-cost, housing units, some one-story and some two-story Schlesische Straße, Berlin
row houses, all with courtyards.[3] He was also a member of the team
which reconstructed Chiado, the historic center of Lisbon destroyed
by a fire in 1988.

Most of his best known works are located in his hometown Porto: the Boa Nova Tea House (1963), the
Faculty of Architecture (1987–93), and the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art (1997). Since the mid-
1970s, Siza has been involved in numerous designs for public housing, public pools,[4] and universities.
Between 1995 and 2009, Siza has been working on an architecture museum on Hombroich island, completed
in collaboration with Rudolf Finsterwalder.[5] Most recently, he started coordinating the rehabilitation of the
monuments and architectonic heritage of Cidade Velha (Old Village) in Santiago, an island of Cape Verde.

Commissioned after winning an international competition in 2010, Siza and Granada-based Juan Domingo
Santos unveiled designs for a new entrance and visitors center at the Alhambra in 2014.[6]

By 2012, Siza warned that he might close his Portuguese office because of a lack of contracts.[7]

In 2014, Álvaro Siza designed, with Carlos Castanheira the Building on the Water in Huai'An City, Jiangsu,
China that was awarded the building of the year 2015 by ArchDaily.[8][9]

In 2019, Alvaro Siza was commissioned with his first project in the United States, a 450-foot-tall, 37-story
apartment building at 611 West 56th Street in Manhattan.[10]

In 2020, Álvaro Siza designed four buildings respectively Siza House, YuChia House, Tea House and Gate
House at the Taifong Golf Club, in Changhua, Taiwan.[11]

Teaching

Siza taught at FAUP from 1966 to 1969, returning in 1976. In addition to his teaching there, he has been a
visiting professor at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University; the University of Pennsylvania; Los
Andes University of Bogota; and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.[3]

Legacy
In July 2014 Siza announced his decision to donate the large part of his architectural archive to the Canadian
Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in order to make his materials "accessible
alongside the work of other modern and contemporary architects",[12] while also giving specific project
archives to the Fundação Gulbenkian in Lisbon and Fundação de Serralves in Porto, Portugal.[13]
Recognition
In 1987, the dean of Harvard Graduate School of Design, the Spanish
architect Rafael Moneo, organized the first show of Siza's work in the
United States.[14] In 1992, he was awarded with the renowned
Pritzker Prize for the renovation project that he coordinated in the
Chiado area of Lisbon, a historic commercial sector that was all but
completely destroyed by fire in August 1988.[3]

Other prizes include: The Golden Medal of The Superior Council of

Architecture of the College of Architects of Madrid in 1988; Mies van
der Rohe Award for European Architecture, the Prince of Wales Prize Library of the Escola Superior de
in Urban Design from Harvard University, [15] and the Alvar Aalto Educação de Setúbal, 1986–1994
Medal in 1988; Portugal's National Prize of Architecture 1993; the
Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize by the American Academy of
Arts and Letters and the Praemium Imperiale in 1998, the Wolf Prize in Arts in 2001, the Urbanism Special
Grand Prize of France 2005.

Siza's Iberê Camargo Foundation in Porto Alegre, his first project built in Brazilian territory, was honoured by
the Venice Architecture Biennale with the Golden Lion award in 2002.[16] In 2007 the Brazilian Government
awarded him the Cultural Merit Order Medal. More recently he was awarded the RIBA's 2009 Royal Gold
Medal[17] and the International Union of Architects' 2011 Gold Medal.[18] Siza was awarded by the Venice
Architecture Biennale (13th Edition) with the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement (2012). In 2019 was
awarded the National Architecture Award of Spain, being the first non-Spanish architect to receive it in its 90
years of history.[19]

Siza was conferred the title of Honoris Causa Doctor by the following universities: Polytechnic University of
Valencia; École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; University of Palermo; University Menendez Pelayo, in
Santander; Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería in Lima, Peru; University of Coimbra; Lusíada University of
Porto; Universidade Federal de Paraíba; the Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Polo delle Scienze e
delle Tecnologie, in Naples; the University of Architecture and Urbanism of Bucharest "Ion Mincu", Romania
(2005); and the University of Pavia, Italy (2007). He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences as well as Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the American Institute of
Architects, the Académie d'Architecture de France and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Civil awards and decorations

Grand Officer of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, Portugal (6 June
1992)[20]
Grand-Cross of the Order of Prince Henry, Portugal (9 July 1999)[20]
Grand-Cross of the Order of Public Instruction, Portugal (6 April 2017)[20]

Selected projects
Works by Siza include the Iberê Camargo Foundation, the Serralves museum, and the New Orleans building.

Exhibitions
 2012, January: Alturas de Machu Picchu: Martín Chambi –
Álvaro Siza at Work, at Canadian Centre for Architecture,
Montreal.[21]
2014, March: Visions of the Alhambra, at the Aedes
Architecture Forum, Berlin. Curator: António Choupina,
Arch.[22]
2014, June: Visions of the Alhambra, at the Vitra Campus,
Weil am Rhein. Curator: António Choupina, Arch. –
Opening of Art Basel and the Álvaro-Siza-Promenade[23] Piscinas de Marés at Leça da
2015, February: Visions of the Alhambra, at the Palace of Palmeira
Charles V, Granada. Curator: António Choupina, Arch.[24]
2015, May: Visions of the Alhambra, at the National
Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo. Curator:
António Choupina, Arch. – Official Visit of the President of
Portugal to Norway[25]
2016, July: Visions of the Alhambra, at the Aga Khan
Museum, Toronto. Curator: António Choupina, Arch.[26]
2017, March: Visions of the Alhambra, at the Serralves
Museum, Porto. Curator: António Choupina, Arch.[27]
2017, June: Architecture on Canvas, at the Nadir Afonso
Contemporary Art Museum , Chaves. Curator: António Marco de Canavezes Church
Choupina, Arch.[28]
2018, May: AlfaroSiza, no ESPAI ALFARO, Valencia.
Curators: António Choupina, Arch. & Fran Silvestre,
Arch.[29]
2019, February: SIZA – Unseen & Unknown, at the
Museum for Architectural Drawing, Berlin. Curators:
António Choupina, Arch. & Kristin Feireiss Dr. h.c. –
Bauhaus Centennial[30]
2020, October: SIZA – Unseen & Unknown, at the Marques
da Silva Foundation, Porto. Curators: António Choupina,
Arch. & Kristin Feireiss Dr. h.c. – 150th anniversary of José Expo'98 pavilion of Portugal with its
Marques da Silva [31] concrete veil

Cultural references
A monography of Siza appears in an early scene of the movie John
Wick.[32][33]

Bibliography
Seoane, Carlos; Rodriguez, Juan (2015). Siza by Siza.
Porto: AMAG Editorial. ISBN 978-84-606-9702-2.
Betti, Raul; Ruffino, Greta (2012). Álvaro Siza, Viagem sem
Programa. Red Publishing. ISBN 978-88-88492-22-3.
Carmo Simões, João; Figueira, J.; Tunhas, P. (2016). Ibere Camargo Foundation
Álvaro Siza / Museu Nadir Afonso. monade. Lisboa.
ISBN 978-989-99485-1-8.
 Duarte, J.P. (2001). Customizing Mass Housing: a discursive grammar for Siza's houses at
Malagueira", PhD Dissertation. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Figueira, Jorge (Hrsg.): Álvaro Siza. Modern Redux (Text: Alexandre Alves Costa, Jorge
Figueira, Hans Ibelings, Guilherme Wisnik). Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-
7757-2298-8 (English/German) und ISBN 978-3-7757-2276-6 (English/Portuguese) – Projects
1998–2008
Frampton, Kenneth (2000). Álvaro Siza. Complete Works. London: Phaidon. ISBN 978-
0714840048.
Jodidio, Philip (2013). Álvaro Siza: Complete Works 1952-2013. Taschen. ISBN 978-
3836521710.
Rodrigues, Jacinto (1992). Álvaro Siza / obra e método. Livraria Civilização Editora. ISBN 972-
26-1099-6.
Siza, Álvaro (1994). City Sketches. Birkhäuser. ISBN 3-7643-2820-7.
Testa, Peter (1996). Álvaro Siza. Birkhäuser. ISBN 3-7643-5598-0.

References
1. Glancey, Jonathan (8 October 2008). "A Gold Medal for
Siza? About time" (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddes
ign/2008/oct/08/alvaro.siza.riba.prize). The Guardian.
2. "A Portuguese Wins Pritzker Award" (https://www.nytimes.
com/1992/04/27/arts/a-portuguese-wins-pritzker-award.htm
l). The New York Times. 27 April 1992. Museu Nadir Afonso (https://www.mo
3. "Pritzker Architecture Prize: Alvaro Siza Vieira" (https://we nadebooks.com/books/m2) (2016)
b.archive.org/web/20101222001519/http://pritzkerprize.co
m/laureates/1992/bio.html). www.pritzkerprize.com.
Archived from the original (http://www.pritzkerprize.com/lau
reates/1992/bio.html) on 22 December 2010. Retrieved
1 May 2011.
4. Lynch, Patrick (23 October 2008). "Álvaro Siza: swimming
pools with depth" (http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/critics/
lvaro-siza-swimming-pools-with-depth/1904917.article).
The Architect's Journal.
5. Long, Kieran (1 August 2009). "Pavilion by Álvaro Siza
and Rudolf Finsterwalder, Insel Hombroich Foundation,
Ruhr Valley, Germany" (http://www.architectural-review.co
m/buildings/pavilion-by-lvaro-siza-and-rudolf-finsterwalder-
insel-hombroich-foundation-ruhr-valley-germany/8600969.
article). The Architectural Review.
6. Rosenfield, Karissa (11 March 2014). "Álvaro Siza + Juan
Domingo Santos Design: New Gate of Alhambra" (http://w
ww.archdaily.com/485230/alvaro-siza-juan-domingo-santo
s-design-new-gate-of-alhambra/). ArchDaily.
7. Minder, Raphael (9 November 2012). "Celebrating a Year
of Culture Amid Hard Times in Portugal" (https://www.nytim
es.com/2012/11/10/arts/10iht-scportugal10.html).
International Herald Tribune.
8. "The Building on the Water / Álvaro Siza + Carlos
Castanheira" (https://www.archdaily.com/541173/the-buildi
ng-on-the-water-alvaro-siza-carlos-castanheira).
 9. "Álvaro Siza−實聯化⼯⽔上⼤樓 " (https://solomo.xinmedi
a.com/archi/13654-alvarosiza).
10. McKeough, Tim (30 August 2019). "Another Starchitect
Arrives in New York" (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/
realestate/another-starchitect-arrives-in-new-york.html).
The New York Times.
11. "Alvaro Siza's Taifong Golf Club Opens in Changhua,
Taiwan" (https://www.archdaily.com/540450/alvaro-siza-s-t
aifong-golf-club-opens-in-taichung-taiwan).
12. Siza, Álvaro (23 July 2014), "Álvaro Siza's fonds" (https://w
ww.cca.qc.ca/en/search/details/collection/object/447183),
Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA).
13. Qeuirós, Luís Miguel (9 July 2015). "Álvaro Siza doa 40
projectos a Serralves" (http://www.publico.pt/culturaipsilon/
noticia/alvaro-siza-doa-40-projectos-a-serralves-1701463).
Público (Portugal).
14. Ouroussoff, Nicholas (5 August 2007). "Modernist Master's
Deceptively Simple World" (https://www.nytimes.com/2007/
08/05/arts/design/05ouro.html). The New York Times.
15. "Fellowships, Prizes and Travel Programs" (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20101210065635/http://www.gsd.harvard.ed
u/academic/fellowships/prizes/green_prize.htm).
www.gsd.harvard.edu. Archived from the original (http://ww
w.gsd.harvard.edu/academic/fellowships/prizes/green_priz
e.htm) on 10 December 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
16. 8th International Architecture Exhibition 2002 (http://labien
nale.org/en/architecture/history/8.html?back=true) La
Biennale di Venezia.
17. "Royal Gold Medal 2009" (https://web.archive.org/web/201
40605102840/http://www.architecture.com/Awards/RoyalG
oldMedal/RoyalGoldMedal2009/RoyalGoldMedal2009.asp
x). architecture.com. Royal Institute of British Architects.
Archived from the original (http://www.architecture.com/Aw
ards/RoyalGoldMedal/RoyalGoldMedal2009/RoyalGoldMe
dal2009.aspx) on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
18. "2011 UIA Gold Medal" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110
920021359/http://www.uia-architectes.org/texte/england/P
RIZE/UIA2011/2uia2011.html). UIA. 18 April 2011.
Archived from the original (http://www.uia-architectes.org/te
xte/england/PRIZE/UIA2011/2uia2011.html) on 20
September 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
19. "The National Architecture Award of Spain 2019 was
granted to Siza Vieira" (http://www.porto.pt/noticias/the-nati
onal-architecture-award-of-spain-2019-was-granted-to-siza
-vieira). Porto.pt. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 30 October
2020.
20. "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens
Portuguesas" (http://www.ordens.presidencia.pt/?idc=153).
Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas.
Retrieved 31 July 2016.
21. "Alturas de Machu Picchu: Martín Chambi – Álvaro Siza at
work" (https://web.archive.org/web/20180201015113/http
s://www.cca.qc.ca/en/events/3200/alturas-de-machu-picch
u-martin-chambi-alvaro-siza-at-work). Canadian Centre for
Architecture. 26 January 2012. Archived from the original
(https://www.cca.qc.ca/en/events/3200/alturas-de-machu-pi
cchu-martin-chambi-alvaro-siza-at-work) on 1 February
2018.
22. The Pearl of Granada remains untouched in the FAZ. 5
May 2014. Page 14
23. "The Alhambra Project" (http://www.design-museum.de/en/
exhibitions/detailseiten/siza.html). Vitra Design Museum.
13 June 2014.
24. "Visiones de la Alhambra" (http://www.alhambra-patronato.
es/index.php?id=746). www.alhambra-patronato.es.
Council of the Alhambra and Generalife. 9 February 2015.
25. "Álvaro Siza Vieira. Visions of the Alhambra" (http://nasjon
almuseet.no/no/utstillinger_og_aktiviteter/utstillinger/nasjo
nalmuseet__arkitektur/%C3%81lvaro+Siza+Vieira.+Vision
s+of+the+Alhambra.b7C_wlzYWY.ips).
nasjonalmuseet.no. National Museum of Art, Architecture
and Design. 4 May 2015.
26. "Álvaro Siza Vieira. Gateway to the Alhambra" (https://ww
w.agakhanmuseum.org/exhibitions/alvaro-siza-gateway-al
hambra). www.agakhanmuseum.org. Aga Khan Museum.
23 July 2016.
27. "Visions of the Alhambra showcases Álvaro Siza's project
for Granada" (http://visao.sapo.pt/actualidade/visaose7e/ve
r/2017-03-08-Visoes-da-Alhambra-Serralves-mostra-o-proj
eto-de-Siza-Vieira-para-Granada). visao.sapo.pt.
Serralves. 8 March 2017.
28. "Architecture on Canvas is MACNA's new exhibition" (htt
p://diarioatual.com/chaves-arquitetura-tela-nova-exposicao
-nadir-afonso-no-macna/). diarioatual.com. Nadir Afonso
Contemporary Art Museum. 11 July 2017.
29. "Dialogues between Álvaro Siza and Andreu Alfaro" (http://
aasarchitecture.com/2018/05/alfaro-siza-exhibition.html).
aasarchitecture.com. ESPAI ALFARO. 30 May 2018.
30. "SIZA – Unseen & Unknown" (http://www.tchoban-foundati
on.de/10-1-Exhibitions.html). www.tchoban-foundation.de.
Museum for Architectural Drawing. 20 February 2019.
31. "SIZA – Inédito e Desconhecido" (https://sicnoticias.pt/cult
ura/2020-10-24-Exposicao-Siza-Inedito-e-Desconhecido-n
o-Porto). www.sicnoticias.pt. SIC Notícias. 24 October
2020.
32. "John Wick (2014) Trivia" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt291
1666/trivia). IMDb. IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
33. "Alvaro Siza" (https://readingoffice.com/alvaro-siza/).
Reading Office. Reading Office. Retrieved 20 June 2020.

External links
 Find and Tell: Peter Testa on Álvaro Siza (https://www.cca.qc.ca/en/events/61841/find-and-tell-
peter-testa-on-alvaro-siza), Canadian Centre for Architecture

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