Alvaro siza philosophy

Álvaro siza works
Álvaro siza architecture style
Álvaro siza houses

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Siza, Alvaro

The Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira (Matosinhos, 1933) is one of the most prominent figures in contemporary European architecture. Born near Porto, he initially wanted to dedicate himself to sculpture but eventually studied architecture at the University of Porto, where he graduated in 1966.

After graduating, Siza worked as a professor at the same faculty between 1966-1969, and later he would be a visiting professor at renowned universities such as Lausanne, Pennsylvania, Bogotá and Harvard.

Siza's architectural style is characterized by the harmonious integration of his designs with the surroundings, both natural and cultural, combining rationalist features with touches of organicism. Among his most iconic works are the Casa de Cha Boa Nova Restaurant (1958) and the Leça de Palmeira Pools (1966), both in Portugal.

After the Carnation Revolution in 1974, Siza's work focused especially on social housing projects and on solving urban problems, with apartment blocks such as Senhora das Dores (1974-77). Other iconic works are the Borges & Irmão Bank in Vi

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Álvaro Siza

Kenneth Frampton’s history of architecture presents Álvaro Siza as an interpreter of what he defines as critical regionalism. While also drawing inspiration from French philosopher Paul Ricoeur, Frampton points out as, in the contemporary age, “we have to regard regional culture not as something given and immutable but rather as something which has to be cultivated self-consciously”, critically. The Boa Nova restaurant (1958-1963) and the Piscina das Marés (1961-1966), Siza’s first works, both on Leça de Palmeira’s seafront, are highly refined architectures where Portuguese vernacular, depurated from its ornamental features, meets the architectural modern, spoiled of any dogmatic purism. A third factor contributes to the positive combination between the two poles: landscape. All along his career, Álvaro Siza remains deeply preoccupied with the mutual and active relation between architecture and nature, and more generally with the link between the built object and its “circumstances” (its context, à la Tavora).

Between the 1970s and th

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Álvaro Siza Vieira

Portuguese architect (born 1933)

Álvaro Joaquim de Melo Siza VieiraGOSEGCIHGCIP (born 25 June 1933) is a Portuguese architect, and architectural educator. He is internationally known as Álvaro Siza (Portuguese pronunciation:[ˈalvɐɾuˈsizɐ]) and in Portugal as Siza Vieira (pronounced[ˈsizɐˈvjɐjɾɐ]).

Early life and education

Siza was born in Matosinhos, a small coastal town near Porto. He graduated in architecture in 1955, at the former School of Fine Arts of the University of Porto, the current FAUP – Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto. There he met his wife, Maria Antónia Siza (1940–1973), with whom he had a daughter and son.^[1]

Career

Siza completed his first built work (four houses in Matosinhos) even before completing his studies in 1954, the same year that he first opened his private practice in Porto. Along with Fernando Távora, he soon became one of the most notable faculty member of the Porto School of Architecture, where both were teachers. Both architects worked together between