The exhibition “Álvaro Siza – Viagem Sem Programa” arrives in Lisbon

The travelling exhibition “Álvaro Siza – Viagem Sem Programa”, curated by Greta Ruffino and Raul Betti on the occasion of the 13th Architecture Biennale of Venice in 2012, is now on show at the Atelier Aires Mateus (Rua Cecílio de Sousa 52) in Lisbon, until May 31st, 2018. A journey into the mind of one of the most prolific architects of our times, the exhibition features a collection of 53 drawings selected by Alvaro Siza from his own travel notes. Like fragments of life, the series of sketches redraw the architect’s career and intimate experiences with the aim of expressing the unpredictable side of life. For “a journey without a plan”, as the title of the exhibition suggests.

“Siza’s drawings have a revealing power. They explain the ‘world’ in a masterful manner mediated through his reasoning, his sensibility, his wisdom”, highlights Portuguese architect Manuel Aires Mateus. Set in the bright and warm spaces of his Atelier, the collection “was compiled with the purpose of creating a unique work, first of all, via digital restoration aimed at retrieving the traits and marks of each drawing then transferring them on paper via single-use template silkscreen print type (fifty-three 1/1 prints authenticated by the author), revealing the progress in terms of technique and sensitivity in observing reality”, comments Atelier Aires Mateus. Thought as a multimedia narrative, the show also presents over 150 photos as well as a video documentary based on an interview with Siza realised by Ruffino and Betti back in 2011, which explores the architect’s passion for drawing. An aspect of his work that had been barely investigated until then.