Álvaro Siza: The Function of Beauty [Hardcover]

Álvaro Siza (Author), Carlos Castanheira (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2009

Alvaro Siza's work is recognized internationally for its beauty, simplicity, and gravity. The stark lines and geometric clarity of his buildings produce almost startling experiences of space. Among his earliest projects was a beach bathing complex in Matosinhos, just north of Porto, in which earthworks and a series of concrete walls define pools in the ocean that are enclosed enough to swim in but over which water can flow. This kind of a sensitive intrusion into a site, common to many of Siza's buildings, lends them the serenity of structures much older. Despite the timeless quality of his work, Siza's history is intimately bound up with that of Portugal. Included in this volume is a cooperative housing project he designed in Porto immediately after the 1974 revolution, about one third of which was built under the auspices of a newly-formed housing cooperative. 30 years later, Porto's city council decided to build the rest of the project and refurbish the existing houses. Both phases of building required multiple discussions between the residents and the architect, and reflect the changing political and social life of the country. All projects in this book are documented in full, with sketches, drawings, and photographs, and detailed descriptions by author Carlos Castanheira and Siza himself. Siza's architecture has been defined as continuously experimental; as this generously-illustrated volume makes clear, each of his designs responds creatively to its setting but his work as a whole retains a unity of form. In addition to residential, cultural, and infrastructural projects in Portugal, this book includes the Ibere Camargo Foundation in Puerto Alegre, Brazil, opened to wide acclaim in April 2008, and projects currently under construction including a mimesis museum in Paju, South Korea, as well as a cultural centre in Ceuta and a sports hotel in Huesca, both in Spain.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carlos Castanheira was born in Lisbon in 1957. In 1981, he graduated from the Course of Architecture in the School of Fine Arts in Porto. From 1981 to 1990, he lived in Amsterdam, where he worked as an architect and attended the course of Architecture of Academie voor Bouwkunst van Amsterdam. He has had a private practice since 1991, but had previously worked for lvaro Siza for fourteen years, and they maintain a working relationship and strong friendship. Outside of his architecture practice, which primarily builds private houses, he is active in many different parts of the architectural community, including participating in conferences and juries for competitions, teaching and serving as an external examiner at schools of architecture, curating exhibitions, and editing and publishing books and catalogues. lvaro Siza, born in 1933, is considered one of Portugal's greatest architects. He studied at the University of Porto School of Architecture from 1949 to 1955. After working with Fernando Tavora, he opened a private practice in Porto in 1949. He has received honorary degrees from and taught in universities around the world, including Portugal, the United States, Switzerland, and South America. His work has been the subject of numerous books and exhibitions, and he has been honoured with many awards, including the 1992 Pritzker Prize, the 'European Award for Architecture' from the Economic European Community/Mies van der Rohe Foundation, and the Gold Medal of the Alvar Aalto Foundation.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (April 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714849464
• ISBN-13: 978-0714849461
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 10.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #592,007 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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