ÁLVARO SIZA VIEIRA

des Hommes . de la Matière . du Temps
Álvaro Siza Vieira
13.04.18 – 13.05.18

Exposition à la Chapelle des Carmélites, Toulouse – France

The Association “des Hommes, de la Matière et du Temps” is pleased to present its first exhibition dedicated to the work of the Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza, in the prestigious Carmelite Chapel in Toulouse.
A selection of projects, linked to the themes of Living, Rehabilitating etc. will be exhibited, based on the archives of Álvaro Siza Vieira’s studio.
The Association, non-profitable, according to the law of 1901, has set itself the goal of disclosing the work of men and women with a masterful relationship between a Matter, Time and Men, foremost among which, the Architecture.
Álvaro Siza was born in 1933 in Matosinhos, near Porto. He began his career as an architect in the studio of his teacher and friend Fernando Tàvora before founding his own agency in Porto. After promising and discreet beginnings that the first international critics report, the reconstruction of Chiado in Lisbon designates him as the greatest architect of his country. Follow numerous and important orders which each time testify to a singular contribution to the international production, quickly recognized by all school of architecture of Porto, Galician center of Contemporary Art of Santiago de Compostela, Pavilion of Portugal at the Universal Exhibition of 1998, Church of Marco de Canaveses, Museum of the Serralves Foundation, etc. He also builds abroad, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Brazil, South Korea, France. He received the Pritzker Prize in 1992 and the Golden Lion of Venice in 2002.

The Chapel of the Carmelites: Only remnant of the convent of the Carmelites, destroyed during the Revolution. Built in the seventeenth century and decorated in the eighteenth century, the Chapel is notable for its baroque architecture, rare in the pink city and impressive wall paintings signed Jean Rivalz. Behind a blind portal, the Chapel protects itself from the street by a courtyard, paved with pebbles of rivers. The few steps separating us from the main space allow us to discover it on a low-angle view. The light, rare and precious, ricochets on the gilding of its decorations for more than three centuries. This frame, as mysterious as it is voicing, is the one in which the first chapter of our movement is written.