Siza Vieira was born in Matosinhos, in 1933. He is the most famous and internationally acclaimed Portuguese architect

He studied between 1949 and 1955 in the School of Fine Arts of Oporto, where he also taught from 1966 to 1969, returning there as a teacher in 1976.

He was strongly influenced by the works of architects like Adolf Loos, Frank Lloyd Wright and Alvar Aalto.

He has been able to develop its own language, not only influenced by international modernist references but also by traditional Portuguese ones, which resulted in refined, unique and detailed works of Portuguese modernism, from which stands out the Boa Nova Tea House in Leça da Palmeira near Oporto.  

Siza Vieira has created milestones in the history of Portuguese and international architecture, influencing generations of architects : the Tide Pools, the Serralves Museum or the Church of Marco de Canaveses. More recently, the museum for Iberê Camargo Foundation in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where Alvaro Siza returns to one of his strongest architectural language influence, Le Corbusier.

The greatest talent of Siza is believed to be his ability to reinterpret or even redesign while looking for an architectural language. This has been shown in some recent works full of formal complexity together with an apparent simplicity of design. 

His works can be found all over the world, from America to Asia, in countries like Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Brazil, South Korea, The United States, among others.

Siza was also a visiting professor at L’École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Los Andes in Bogota and at Harvard University.

• The Library of Viana do Castelo is also a work of Siza Vieira.

Awards

• 1981 - The International Association of Art Critics’ Award / Ministry of Culture AICA / SEC - Architecture;

• 1988 – The Gold Medal from the Madrid College of Architects;

• 1988 – The Prize Mies van der Rohe for Contemporary Architecture;

• 1992 – The Pritzker Prize from the Hyatt Foundation, for the renovation project of Chiado, in Lisbon;

• 1993 – The Architecture National Prize;

• 1996 – The Secil Prize;

• 1998 – The Alvar Aalto Medal;

• 1998 – The Prince of Wales Prize from Harvard University;

• 2000 – The Secil Prize;

• 2001 – The Wolf Prize in Arts;

• 2005 – The Urbanism Special Grand Prize of France;

• 2006 – The Secil Prize;

• 2008 – The Royal Gold Medal for Architecture from the Royal Institute of British Architects;

• 2009 – The Royal Gold Medal 2009 from the Royal Institute of British Architects;

• 2010 – The Luso-Spanish Prize for Art and Culture