As part of its commitment to architecture, in 2021 the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art will be hosting the third edition of "The Álvaro Siza Talks", an event that brings together architects, scholars and students for the discussion of issues relevant to contemporary architecture while celebrating the spirit of Álvaro Siza's work. Each edition of the Talks is centred around a different topic that aims at fostering discussion and debate in connection to themes and values expressed in Siza's architecture.

Since the very beginning of his architectural practice, Siza's work has been strongly informed by a unique reading of the notion of place and he has often stated that, for him, a project starts the moment he visits the site. Whether in the historic city, in urban peripheries or in the remotest of locations, his work always engages in conversation with place. However, this conversation has taken different forms: at the Boa Nova Tea House in Leça da Palmeira, Siza's first built public building (1958-63), he established a relationship of continuity between the roofs and the rocky landscape facing the Atlantic Ocean, while at the Ocean Swimming Pools (1961-66), just a few years and a few hundred meters away, he sought a relationship of opposition with the very same Ocean, through the careful disposition of a series of concrete walls.

The theme proposed this year's edition of the Talks, "Conversations with Place", aims at raising a discussion of the very notions of place and site, and their role in contemporary architectural practice.

This year's opening lecture will be delivered Anne Lacaton (recipent, together with his partner Jean-Philippe Vassal, of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2021). Speakers include Sheila O'Donnell, Carme Pinós, Paulo David, Cino Zucchi and Juhani Pallasmaa. 

In addition to Álvaro Siza, the Scientific Committee of “The Álvaro Siza Talks” is composed of Farrokh Derakhshani (Director of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture), Eduardo Souto de Moura, Carles Muro and Philippe Vergne (Director of the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art).

"The Álvaro Siza Talks" are organized by the Serralves Foundation in collaboration with the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

Programme

Thursday, November 18

19:00   Opening remarks

19:30   Opening lecture

            Anne Lacaton (Lacaton & Vassal, Paris)

Friday, November 19

10:30   Carles Muro [Opening remarks]

11:00   Sheila O'Donnell (O'Donnell + Tuomey, Dublin)

12:30   Paulo David(Paulo David Arquitectos, Funchal)

16:00   Cino Zucchi(CZA Cino Zucchi Architetti, Milan)

17:30   Carme Pinós (Estudio Carme Pinós, Barcelona)

19:30   Juhani Pallasmaa (Helsinki)