The kindness and diligence of architect Roberto Cremascoli made the meeting with Álvaro Siza possible. Cremascoli, who was born in Milan, has lived in Porto for about 30 years, where he did his Erasmus studies with Siza, later graduating in Milan in 1994 with a thesis that had the Portuguese architect himself and Pierluigi Nicolin as supervisors. He is partner of the firm COR arquitectos and is co-author with Siza of several works, such as the recent residential project in Gallarate, having also worked at his studio.
The kindness and diligence of architect Roberto Cremascoli made the meeting with Álvaro Siza possible. Cremascoli, who was born in Milan, has lived in Porto for about 30 years, where he did his Erasmus studies with Siza, later graduating in Milan in 1994 with a thesis that had the Portuguese architect himself and Pierluigi Nicolin as supervisors. He is partner of the firm COR arquitectos and is co-author with Siza of several works, such as the recent residential project in Gallarate, having also worked at his studio.
Master Siza needs little introduction: he is one of the world’s most important and award-winning living architects. His work inserts on the Portuguese tradition, at the historical moment when the authoritarian regime of António Salazar loosened its grip until the restoration of democracy in 1974. Tradition in Siza’s case is understood as something dynamic and not static, as a sedimentation of successive layers of innovation. The Portuguese master’s work begins to be known outside the country’s borders with the first publications of the SAAL1 project, one of which was published in «Controspazio» in 1972.
The meeting for the interview is at 11:30 am, at Siza’s studio in Rua do Aleixo. The building, that he himself designed, also houses the studio of Eduardo Souto de Moura and has hosted in the past that of Fernando Távora: the masters of the so-called School of Porto gathered under one roof.
We ring the intercom without getting any answer. Cremascoli, who kindly accompanies me with his wife Marta, calls Siza on the phone but to no avail. After a few minutes, the master calls us back, communicating that he had had a small mishap. So, we decide to go and meet him at home within an hour. While waiting for the meeting we decide to visit the exhibition dedicated to Maria Antonia Siza Leite, a refined artist and wife of the architect who died very young in 1974.
The exhibition of the artist’s drawings, almost all from Siza’s private archive, is housed in the Serralves Museum, one of Siza’s most emblematic works in Porto. At the entrance of the museum itinerary, we are welcomed by a moving video-interview of the architect in memory of his wife.
We go to the architect’s house. It is a small three-story concrete building not far from his office, designed by Eduardo Souto de Moura, who occupies the top floor, while Siza lives on the middle floor. We wait several minutes by the intercom with no answer and call him in vain on the phone. We meet his daughter Joana, who in the meantime has come home and warns us from the terrace that her father is not home.
The choice of materials was very important for me and we discussed it a lot with the client.
Roberto calls at the office where Siza, in the meantime, is waiting for us and where we hastily return.
Siza’s studio is accessed through a garden overlooking the river. On the threshold the master welcomes us. Roberto who seems at home, makes coffee for everyone and we start the conversation with Álvaro Siza Viera, at 13:30 pm on Saturday October 15th, 2022.
Before starting the interview, Siza flips through the issue n. 35 of «Compasses» with the project for the Antiquarium of Pompeii by COR arquitectos, and we dwell on the technique for making casts developed by Giuseppe Fiorelli. He sees a project in China in the magazine and tells us about his experience in the Far East, describing it as a paradise for architects.
In four years, he managed to build four museums and immediately compares the Eastern speed and efficiency to the Portuguese and Italian slowness and bureaucratic impediments. He tells us about his beautiful experience in Gallarate with Roberto Cremascoli’s studio, considering it a rare Italian exception due, in his opinion, to a series of fortunate coincidences, one of which is the convergence of the funder, builder and landowner in one figure.
The main topic of the interview is Álvaro Siza’s work in New York, where in 2022 he has completed the construction of the first building in the USA, 611 West 56th Street, a 137-metre, 37-story skyscraper in the Hell’s Kitchen district. The questions follow a predetermined plot only at the beginning, very soon the conversation takes unexpected and extremely interesting paths.
Read the full interview on the latst issue of compasses magazine.
