Recherche

Description:
This sketchbook includes notes and sketches of Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany and the Bouça housing complex in Porto, Portugal. Notes mention Brigitte Fleck, Dr. Braga, B. Borges, and include a schedule of meetings regarding work in Évora, Portugal.

Description:
The Álvaro Siza fonds documents the architectural work of Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza. Records in this fonds document Siza’s projects from 1958-2012, including built and unbuilt designs. A collaborative project was established between the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), Fundação de Serralves, and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian to allow for international research and access to the archive. The archive is shared by the three institutions with each institution holding different projects while collaborating on the descriptive work and increasing the visibility of the archive. The holdings at both the Fundação de Serralves and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian focus on Siza’s Portuguese projects, while the portion of the archive held by the CCA mainly includes Siza’s projects abroad. All three institutions are committed to describing the archive and making it accessible for scholarly research. The processing of the Siza archive held by the CCA has been divided into four phases to allow for access to parts of the archive while still in process. For the first, second, and third phases, the processing archivist has described the projects from the fifties, sixties, and seventies, as well as projects for the IBA competition in Berlin, urban renewal projects in The Hague from the eighties, urban plans, museums, and individual houses between 1980 and 2000. The processing archivist has also described approximately 203 sketchbooks. Many of these sketchbooks include sketches related to architectural projects which were processed. The complete list of projects processed by the CCA to date can be found in series AP178.S1. The bulk of the Álvaro Siza fonds is arranged in Series AP178.S1, which contains documentation for over 200 of Siza’s architectural projects. Records in this archive are predominantly from 1970 to 2000. Series AP178.S1 mainly contains conceptual, design development, presentation, and working drawings. Also included are photographic materials, models, born digital records, and textual documentation, which include correspondence, project proposals, and notes. The architect’s creative process is captured in 282 sketchbooks arranged in Series AP178.S2. In all there are approximately 60 000 drawings, 3000 folders of textual documentation, 9.46 linear meters of photographs and negatives, 6,545 slides, 250 CD-ROMS, 101 floppy disks, and 371 models that document the architectural activities of Siza and his office. Among the drawings are sketches by Siza on various items, such as napkins, receipts, envelopes, or on the back of working drawings. The fonds contains several types of architectural projects including residential buildings, museums, universities, urban plans, offices, and city restorations. Of particular significance are the sketchbooks, comprised of sketches for architectural projects, Siza’s travels, people, and animals as well as notes and draft letters. The sketchbooks are organized in chronological order, starting in the late 1970’s to the beginning of the 2000’s. Locations, notes, and dates have also been identified on the front of each sketchbook along with the sketchbook number. The sketchbooks provide a unique perspective of Siza’s use of drawing as part of his work process.