Inaugurated the new expansion of Museu Serralves by Álvaro Siza in Porto

After 18 months of planning and construction, Serralves Foundation –  one of Portugal’s most successful cultural institutions located in Porto, with international recognition – has inaugurated the new Álvaro Siza Wing of the Serralves Museum, designed as well by Siza.

The 45,000-square-foot expansion hosts two exhibitions: “Anagramas Improvavéis” (“Improbable Anagrams”), a permanent exhibition of a showcase of the Serralves Foundation’s collection spanning over sixty years; and “C.A.S.A.”, an acronym for “Coleção Álvaro Siza, Arquivo”, which also means “home”, exhibiting works from the archives of Siza, curated by António Choupina. Located in Serralves Park, the new building, composed of three floors, is connected on the west side to the pre-existing building through an elevated gallery, and is also accessible from the first floor.

The new building reflects the classic geometries and compositional language typical of Siza. One attention-grabbing feature is an inverted triangle-shaped window framing the park outside, further framed by a play of layers from a large triangular door, marking the transition between the two building blocks. A skillful play of wall segments gives hierarchy and semantics to the spaces, both horizontally and vertically. What mattered to Siza, as he stated, was not to spoil the park to make room for his architecture; therefore, the project developed in total harmony with the landscape.