Book Description

Book Description

Alvaro Siza (1933) studied at the School of Architecture of the University of Oporto.Between 1955 and 1958 he worked in the studio of Fernando Tavora.he embarked on his professional career with the Boa Nova Restaurant (Leca da Palmeira, 1963).In this initial phase, his works combined modern typology with the vernacular tradition.Nonetheless, he constantly returns to clear volumes, like the great white parallellepiped of Avelino Duarte House (Ovar, 1985), which brings together all his earlier experience of housing typologies, including his major intervention in this area Quinta da Malagueira (Evora, 1977).Since the eighties, he has been commissioned to carry out a wide variety of porjects, ranging from the Santiago de Compostela Museum of Contemporary Art (1993) to the School of Education in Setubal (1992). ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A good book of the architect of the moment!
Some people say Siza is the architect of the white! Probably, if whe can understand that the white colour of his facades is the consequence of his absolutly control of plans and forms. He is a genius! This book is a good way to show almost all works of Siza. For me there is only one book that is better than this one: "Alvaro Siza - the book, from ElCroquis".But anyway, buy this book if you want to understand the genius of Alvaro Siza. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

It's not so bad!!
Alvaro Siza is probably the best architect in the world. It's true that the book is not even an introduction, but it has some major works, so, if you can buy another book about Siza Vieira, do it!!!!! If you can't afford it, buy this one, keeping in mind that Siza is much more...

Very bad!
I am a Siza Vieira's fan and for me this book is really bad compared to all book i know about Siza. How Taschen could authorized this book ?

0166565940
URB.EL PARQUE EDIFICIO EL PARQUE PISO 3 APTO 3-C.CALLEB-1.TLF:016656594 ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A good introduction
...first of all, it’s quite convenient to have some geographic knowledge when your writing something; when the previous reviewer wrote that Siza reconstructed a burned out section of an Italian town, he should know that this town is Lisbon and Lisbon is not in Italy but is the capital of Portugal! I my opinion the introductory essay is very good, it presents the ideas of one of the great architects of the moment, it’s true that the book lacks some references to other important projects of Siza, but you can’t have it all…
Siza has proven to be amongst the most coherent and complete of all architectural works this century. This coherence is not based on stylistic repetition: it lies in the progressive evolution of the act of designing and, as such, Siza’s work is immediately recognisable wherever it be found. This is a good introduction to his work!

not quite enough
The author presents about ten of Siza's work. Among them his museum of comtemporary art, a house, a school, a park, a water tower, a housing project and the reconstruction of a burned out section of an Italian town. There is not quite enough detail to allow one to understand how the buildings were put together.

I have found that statements by practicing architects-as opposed to criticisms or reviews by academicians-are worth their weight in gold. The introductory essay-by Siza-was terrific. In it he talks about what an important part changes in scale play in creating a cityscape, how changes in one part of the city fabric causes adjustments in another, and finally concludes with the observation that 'The craft [architecture] is incompatible with the very notion of specialization....'

My favorite passage: "An architect is no ballerina. But like any carpenter or electrician, like a director, or even a simple walk-on performer without lines, the architect must be familiar with the work, must know when to not to use too much light, or too little, must know how to avoid an expression that is overdone or too subtle, must recognize the difference among all the many voices and gestures so as not to attribute equal weight when doing so would be an error." ... Read more

Book Description

67 black-and-white illustrations ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Siza's master drawings
In this wonderful book by Birkhauser/editors we become aware of Siza's spectacular drawings. This ones are just about cities. With a few lines and also in very few minutes Siza "catches" the spirit and structureof the spaces habited by him. Siza is a very good architect, of course. Heis also someone who loves to draw; almost anywhere and anytime. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

craftsmanship & assemblage
i purchased this book in 1998 and very much enjoyed it. some large format detail drawings indicate a thinking through process that shows a learning process but also very good clean slate approach to detailing. the wood craftsmanship stands out and makes us remember earlier american wood joinery details which are really cross cultural. low key but extremely well detailed modern builidngs somewhat aaltoesque in flavor. ... Read more