Resumen de Álvaro siza: lugar y crisis
The initial interpretations of Álvaro Siza’s work outside Portugal put the notion of place at the core of his architecture, in line with certain critical positions that appeared in Europe after the Second World War. From different perspectives towards the idea of place, critics have remained true to the vernacular traditions, the revelation of pre-existing regulating lines and the architectural promenade when interpreting Álvaro Siza’s architecture.
However, from the early nineties, these terms were no longer sufficient to understand the last stage of his career. Critical regionalism is completely depleted by the global nature of his work in South Korea or China. In Europe too, Álvaro Siza’s current architecture is frequently located in the anonymous suburbs, sparse landscapes and banal spaces that have proliferated in the generic contemporary city. His projects over the last 25 years have rarely revealed the genius loci through the use of the vernacular, nor historical continuity and forms from the immediate environment. Recognizing the multi-faceted crisis of the place, this thesis explores new meanings of ‘local’ in Álvaro Siza’s contemporary work.
