The Gulbenkian is holding a retrospective show for the work of Álvaro Siza Vieira. We know Siza very well, from a recent show at the Museu Popular, a visit to the new Ala Álvaro Siza at the Museu de Serralves in Porto, as well his sculptural work that we saw at the Biennale in Venice.
The show is in the Museu's lower 'special exhibits' gallery, with a separate entrance fee. The show's opening sign is echoed by a tabloid-sized newspaper which we pick up just inside. The newspaper actually contains the images and text of the primary panels – a fantastic way to pull all the content together, and allow the visitors to dig deeper into the material during their visit and at home.
At the entrance is a two-sided wall of photographic images and a display counter with sketchbooks. The image-only introduction serves as a kind of primer for the language that Siza employs to compose a facade or contain a spaces. We see how he translates the rhythms and perspectival gestures of conceptual drawings to built forms, or the manner in which he works with light and shadow to affect a spiritual connection.
On the taller interior walls, architectural drawings rise to the ceiling. The size and height make viewing a bit of a neck-cramping experience, but it's fascinating to see the actual, full-size drawings as well as the little scribbles and notes in the margins (unfortunately, difficult to photograph as well – see top image).
The primary area of the exhibit houses a series of long, low, table-like boards – mixing the drawings and photos to show how Siza utilizes the abstract language of modernism as well as the elemental and formal concepts of architecture: covering, connecting, folding, fragmenting, turning, projecting, and so on.
In the far gallery is a collection of intriguing furniture pieces, as well as process sketches and mechanical drawings used for production. This 'coda' gives the viewer a chance to see the built objects as the result of Siza's design process: a different scale, but a similar approach in terms of the concepts and the language.
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