Celebrating his 80th birthday in 2013, Álvaro Siza graduated in architecture from the University of Oporto in 1955. His first project was built in 1954 and between 1955 and 1958 he collaborated with the Portuguese architect Fernando Távora. Having worked without interruption for six decades, Álvaro Siza’s career has seen him gain international recognition and prestige. With a host of influential and impressive projects, his broad repertoire ranges from public housing, private dwellings and schools to urban design and rehabilitation, museums, furniture and product design. Foremost among his works are the Bonjour Tristesse Apartment Building in Berlin, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santiago de Compostela, the Serralves Museum in Oporto and the Iberê Camargo Foundation in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Álvaro Siza and his work have been distinguished with several prizes, including the Mies van der Rohe European Architecture Award in 1988, the prestigious Priztker Prize in 1992, the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects (2009), the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 13th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale (2012), as well as several honoris causa doctorates from leading universities in Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal and Brazil, among others. Álvaro Siza is also committed to teaching, working as a professor at Oporto’s School of Architecture since 1976, having participated at numerous conferences and seminars worldwide, and accepting positions as a visiting professor at Lausanne’s EPF, the University of Pennsylvania, Los Andes University of Bogotá and the Graduate School of Design of Harvard University.
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