All in the Siza Family

The sketches of Álvaro Siza (b. 1933) are instantly recognizable. Though very loose and often layered, the drawings are important means of moving projects forward, something World-Architects witnessed firsthand about five years ago, when Siza spoke at MoMA in New York. In conversation with fellow Portuguese architect Pedro Gadanho, he focused on the Foundation Iberê Camargo in Porto Alegre, Brazil, using sketches to tell the building's story to the packed house, while also recounting how he loves to site in a cafe and just sketch anonymously, taking in his surroundings.

The looseness of Siza's technique is apparent in the drawings of three other people in his life. First is his late wife Maria Antónia Siza (1940-1973), whose portrait of Siza looks like it could have been the architect's own self-portrait. Siza's son, Álvaro Leite Siza (b. 1962), is also an architect, and in such drawings as the House in Francelos we see the same birds-eye perspective favored by his father. Lastly is Siza's grandson, Henrique Siza (b. 1992), who is pursuing his own architectural studies in Berlin.

SIZA – Unseen & Unknown is on display at Tchoban Foundation. Museum for Architectural Drawing in Berlin from February 21 to May 26, 2019.