Imagining the Evident
Jonathan Sergison
Jonathan Sergison, Trip to Porto, 1987.
.... ..[Texto original em Inglês]....
“[…] for Siza’s work this physical encounter is absolutely necessary.”
More than any other architect I can think of, Álvaro Siza, has inspired me throughout my career. I first visited his buildings in Porto as a fourth-year student of architecture in 1987, although I had been aware of them throughout my studies. I was always profoundly moved by them, but they are buildings that have to been seen for their many qualities to be evident. This is partly because the reading of their place can only be understood by seeing them in context and, like all great architecture, they need to be experienced in real, not abstract terms. We understand some things about a project by studying drawings and photographs, but experiencing a building is a different matter – for Siza’s work this physical encounter is absolutely necessary.
Jonathan Sergison, Trip to Portugal, 1987
In 1989, on the same day I handed in my diploma portfolio at the AA London, I found myself working for Álvaro Siza on his entry for the Paris National Library competition. I cannot tell you how powerful the memory of sitting next to my hero still is… His gentle encouragement and engagement with the work left a lasting impression.
I can think of very few architects who can produce such exceptional architecture and write so well about it; to do one or the other is already quite an accomplishment.
I first encountered the writings of Álvaro Siza in a book published by Skira in 1997 entitled ‘Architectural writings’, and have re-read these texts over the years. They are refreshingly candid and express the doubts and frustrations all architects have to deal with in their work life.
At times poetic, his texts are conceptually very lucid, and always a pleasure to read. One I particularly enjoy is ‘Living a house’, which describes very clearly the responsibility an architect has in designing a house that becomes a home and all that follows. There is humour in it, mixed with anxiety, which we can all empathise with.
Álvaro Siza, Casa António Carlos Siza, 1976-1978
What Siza writes about is familiar to any practicing architect. It reminds us that while our involvement in a project finishes at the point when a building is completed and handed over to its inhabitants, this is the moment when the life of the house begins, with its need to be serviced and maintained, and the unpredictability this entails.
On reading ‘Imagining the evident’ I rediscovered the same wonderful voice and was particularly struck by the urban themes Siza addresses. The relationship to urbanity is ever present in the book where project descriptions revolve around readings of existing places, conceived as additions to a process of urban continuity.
Álvaro Siza refers to his work in Macau, where the grid is used as an urbanizing device, providing an understanding of its historical and cultural implications. He talks about the rebuilding of the Chiado district of Lisbon that was badly damaged in a fire in August 1988 and the opportunity it offered to re-establish forgotten pathways through the city that he argued still made sense – a complex project of re-use at an impressive urban scale.
Álvaro Siza, Planimetry with the two platforms detached from the coast
Macau expansion plan, Macau, 1983-1984
Other important references are the Porto School of Architecture in Porto, an exercise in creating a campus as a series of interrelated building, and the Teacher Training College in Setúbal. Both show Siza’s interest in the spaces between buildings, particularly the first-year pavilion and open courtyard in Setúbal. And then there is the museum in Santiago de Compostela, a building of great intensity set within the most wonderful landscape.
Álvaro Siza’s work in Evora is one of the most significant housing projects of the twentieth century – although we should note that while work began in the 1970s, it is still ongoing. It is a project I have visited on many occasions and find utterly compelling, adding to the work of masters like Oud, Meyer and Utzon. In “Imagining the evident” Álvaro Siza shares stories about its making and how it has evolved over time.
Álvaro Siza, Malagueira, 1977-1998
Three housing projects built outside Portugal are urban in character and masterful at every level, contributing to the international standing Alvaro Siza has deservedly earned. The first is the re-modelling of an urban block in Kreuzberg, Berlin with a collection of small community buildings and wonderful corner apartment building known as Bonjour Tristesse. The second is the Campo di Marte project on the island of Giudecca in Venice. The buildings realised are a fragment of the urban project won in competition in 1983. The third is the housing development in The Hague, which explores traditional local housing models and reinterprets them, an approach Siza generally applies to all his work. Here, Siza also developed very clear, simple devices in plan to allow the mostly Muslim residents to subdivide their homes in a way that meets their cultural needs and traditions.
The facades of the housing in The Hague remind us of the responsibility architects have in making urban housing. These are simple, repetitive, beautifully proportioned facades that create a carefully measured backdrop in keeping with the older buildings that surround them and the urban decorum of the area.
Álvaro Siza, The Hague, 1983-1988
In an age when lesser architects seek spectacle and strive for originality, Alvaro Siza reminds us that it is necessary to know a site before acting on it, that we should re-purpose buildings and urban forms rather than try to re-invent them, and that perhaps in time, something original might emerge from the lessons learnt in the process.
This wonderful book is full of lessons, and they include the need to be modest and generous, to be open-minded, and to manage doubt.
See full video: A conversation around the book “Imagining the Evident”
[Silkscreen + Book] Imagining the Evident / Álvaro Siza – Limited Edition
Book + Silkscreen Álvaro Siza, 2021
Signed and Numbered by the Author
Limited Edition of 50
Celebrating the English edition of “Imagining the Evident” a silkscreen is launched of a drawing specially selected by Álvaro Siza to accompany this book.