Alvaro Siza: the function of beauty

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).