Lisbon Biennale EXD’13 - METAMORPHOSIS

Álvaro Joaquim Melo Siza Vieira was born in Matosinhos (near Porto), in 1933. From 1949-55 he studied at the School of Architecture, University of Porto. His first built project was finished in 1954. From 1955-58 he was collaborator of Arch. Fernando Távora. He taught at the School of Architecture (ESBAP) from 1966-69 and was appointed Professor of "Construction" in 1976. He was a Visiting Professor at the Ècole Polythéchnique of Lausanne, the University of Pennsylvania, Los Andes University of Bogotá and the Graduate School of Design of Harvard University; he taught at the School of Architecture of Porto (jubilate in 2003).

He is the author of many projects such as: the Boa Nova Tea House and Restaurant; 1200 dwellings built in Malagueira, Évora; the Superior School of Education in Setúbal, the new School of Architecture in Porto; the Library of Aveiro University; the Museum of Modern Art in Porto; the Church and Parochial Centre in Marco de Canavezes; the Pavilion of Portugal for EXPO '98 and the Pavilion of Portugal in Hannover 2000 (with Souto de Moura); the dwelling and offices complex of “Terraços de Bragança” in Lisbon; and he has rebuilt the burnt area of Chiado in Lisbon since 1988, including the projects for some buildings like Castro e Melo, Grandella, Chiado Stores, and others.

He has been coordinated the plan of Schilderswijk's recuperation in The Hague, Holland, since 1985, which finished in 89; in 1995 he finished the project for blocs 6-7-8 in Ceramique Terrein, Maastricht.

In Spain he has completed the projects for the Meteorological Centre of Villa Olimpica in Barcelona; the Museum of Contemporary Art of Galicia and the Faculty of Information Sciences in Santiago de Compostela; the Rectorate of the Alicante University; Zaida building – offices, commercial and dwelling complex in Granada; Sportive Complex Cornellà de L’lobregat in Barcelona.

Cultural Centre and auditorium for the Ibere Camargo Foundation in Brazil; Municipal Centre of Rosario in Argentina; lodging-house in the Plan of Recuperation and Transformation of Cidade Velha in Cap Vert; Serpentine Pavillion (2005) with Eduardo Souto Moura; Museum of Modern Art of Naples in Italy; Anyang Pavilion in South Korea (with Carlos Castanheira); Mimesis Museum in South Korea (with Carlos Castanheira); are to be mentioned.

He has participated in several lectures and conferences in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Norway, Holland, Switzerland, Austria, England, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Canada, United States, Romania, Greece, South Korea and Sweden.

Having been invited to participate in international competitions, he won the first place in Schlesisches Tor, Kreuzberg, Berlin (now built), at the recuperation of Campo di Marte in Venice (1985) and at the renewal of Casino and Café Winkler, Salzburg (1986); Cultural Centre for the La Defensa, Madrid (with José Paulo Santos) (1988/89); J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California (with Peter Testa) (1993); Pietà Rondanini Room, Sforzesco Castell, Milan (1999); Special Plan Recoletos-Prado, Madrid (with Juan Miguel Hernandez Leon e Carlos Riaño) (2002); Toledo Hospital (Sánchez-Horneros office) (2003); “Atrio de la Alhambra” in Spain (with Juan Domingo Santos)(2010); “Parco delle Cave”, Lecce in Italy (with Carlos Castanheira) (2010).

He has participated in the competitions for Expo 92 in Sevilla, Spain (with Eduardo Souto de Moura and Adalberto Dias) (1986); for "Un Progetto per Siena", Italy (with José Paulo Santos) (1988); the Cultural Centre La Defensa in Madrid, Spain (1988/89); the Bibliothèque of France in Paris (1989/90), the Helsinki Museum (with Souto de Moura) (1992-93); Flamenco City of Xerez de la Frontera, Spain (with Juan Miguel Hernandez Leon) (2003).

From 1982 to 2010 has won many different awards and have been assigned with Medals of Cultural Merit from many country around the world. Doctor "Honoris Causa" in various European and International universities.

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science; "Honorary Fellow" of the Royal Institute of British Architects; AIA/American Institute of Architects; Académie d'Architecture de France and European Academy of Sciences and Arts; Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts; IAA/International Academy of Architecture; American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Eduardo Souto de Moura was born in Porto, Portugal, on July 25, 1952. His father was an ophthalmologist, and his mother was a homemaker. He has one brother and one sister: she is also a doctor, and his brother is a lawyer with a political career that led him to serve as Attorney General of Portugal. He is married to architect Luisa Penha and has three daughters: Maria Luísa (an architect), Maria da Paz (a nurse), and Maria Eduarda, who is currently in her third year of architecture studies at the Faculty of Architecture in Porto.

He completed his early education at the Italian School of Porto. He later enrolled in the School of Fine Arts in the same city, where he initially studied sculpture. However, after a decisive encounter in Zurich with the artist Donald Judd, he decided to shift his professional path toward architecture. During his academic years, he worked with architects Noé Dinis and, later, Álvaro Siza, with whom he collaborated for five years. He also participated, together with his urbanism professor Fernandes de Sá, in a project for a market in Braga, which has since been demolished due to changes in commercial patterns.

After completing two years of military service, in 1980 he won the competition for the Casa das Artes in Porto, marking the beginning of his career as an independent architect. That same year, he founded his practice. In 1997, he completed the conversion of the Monastery of Santa Maria do Bouro into the Pousada Mosteiro de Amares, a state-run hotel that combines contemporary elements with the original 12th-century architecture. Among his most acclaimed works is also the Estádio Municipal de Braga (2003), carved into the side of a former quarry—an outstanding example of integration with the natural environment. In 2009, he completed the Casa das Histórias Paula Rego, near Lisbon, whose red, pyramidal roofs create a powerful visual relationship with the surrounding landscape.

Throughout his career, he has been invited as a guest professor at many prestigious architecture schools, including Harvard, ETH Zurich, EPFL Lausanne, Paris-Belleville, Dublin, and Geneva, in addition to his continued work at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto. In these academic settings, he has maintained intellectual dialogue and exchange with architects such as Jacques Herzog and Aldo Rossi.

His work, often described as “neo-Miesian,” is characterized by meticulous material selection—granite, wood, marble, brick, steel, and concrete—and a strong sensitivity to the use of color. Nevertheless, he avoids using endangered materials and advocates for responsible usage, especially of wood, promoting reforestation. He has stated that “there is no ecological architecture, no intelligent architecture, no sustainable architecture; there is only good architecture,” emphasizing that contemporary issues—energy, resources, costs, and social aspects—must always be considered. In this sense, he views architecture as a global issue.

At various times, he has expressed fascination with Mies van der Rohe, highlighting the tension between classicism and neoplasticism in Mies’s work, and the experimentation that made him “so modern that he was already post.” Although Souto de Moura acknowledges the Miesian influence—particularly evident in his Burgo Tower—he aligns himself with the reflection by Francesco Dal Co: “It is better to be good than original, rather than very original and bad.”

Souto de Moura has been recognized with numerous international awards. In 2011, he received the Pritzker Prize and was praised during the ceremony by then-U.S. President Barack Obama, who highlighted his Braga stadium. In 2018, he was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, and in 2024, he was decorated with the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture.

A staunch advocate of situated, specific, and conscious architecture, he affirms that “there is no such thing as universal architecture; everything is rooted in its place.” He believes that designing involves building urban and geographic fragments, uniting ethics and aesthetics, just as the Greeks did. The son of a doctor, he has compared his professional approach to that of a physician carefully examining a patient’s body, underlining the precision, observation, and constant revision inherent to his methodology. He also encourages young architects to embrace rigorous study, travel, and continuous effort as fundamental pillars of architectural education.

Born and raised in a country shaped by the Age of Discovery, dictatorship, and the Carnation Revolution, his architecture reflects a deep cultural awareness and a firm commitment to the challenges of the present. In an age of ecological crises and natural disasters, Souto de Moura continues to design with the conviction that only intelligence, culture, and attention to context can lead to truly good architecture. The world now waits in anticipation for his next masterpiece.

Herzog & de Meuron Architekten is a Swiss architecture firm, founded and headquartered in Basel, Switzerland in 1978. The careers of founders and senior partners Jacques Herzog (born 1950), and Pierre de Meuron (born 1950), closely paralleled one another, with both attending the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich. They are perhaps best known for their conversion of the giant Bankside Power Station in London to the new home of the Tate Museum of Modern Art (2000). Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have been visiting professors at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design since 1994 (and in 1989) and professors at ETH Zürich since 1999. They are co-founders of the ETH Studio Basel – Contemporary City Institute, which started a research programme on processes of transformation in the urban domain.

Herzog & de Meuron is a partnership led by five Senior Partners – Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Christine Binswanger, Ascan Mergenthaler and Stefan Marbach. An international team of 38 Associates and about 362 collaborators.

Herzog & de Meuron received international attention very early in their career with the Blue House in Oberwil, Switzerland (1980); the Stone House in Tavole, Italy (1988); and the Apartment Building along a Party Wall in Basel (1988).  The firm’s breakthrough project was the Ricola Storage Building in Laufen, Switzerland (1987).  Renown in the United States came with Dominus Winery in Yountville, California (1998). The Goetz Collection, a Gallery for a Private Collection of Modern Art in Munich (1992), stands at the beginning of a series of internationally acclaimed museum buildings such as the Küppersmühle Museum for the Grothe Collection in Duisburg, Germany (1999). Their most recognized buildings include Prada Aoyama in Tokyo, Japan (2003); Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany (2005); the new Cottbus Library for the BTU Cottbus, Germany (2005); the National Stadium Beijing, the Main Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China; VitraHaus, a building to present Vitra’s “Home Collection“, Weil am Rhein, Germany (2010); and 1111 Lincoln Road, a multi-storey mixed-use structure for parking, retail, a restaurant and a private residence in Miami Beach, Florida, USA (2010), the Actelion Business Center in Allschwil/Basel, Switzerland (2010). In recent years, Herzog & de Meuron have also completed projects such as the New Hall for Messe Basel Switzerland (2013), the Ricola Kräuterzentrum in Laufen (2014), which is the seventh building in a series of collaborations with Ricola, with whom Herzog & de Meuron began to work in the 1980s; and the Naturbad Riehen (2014), a public natural swimming pool. In April 2014, the practice completed its first project in Brazil: the Arena do Morro in the neighbourhood of Mãe Luiza, Natal, is the pioneering project within the wider urban proposal “A Vision for Mãe Luiza”.

Herzog & de Meuron have completed 6 projects since the beginning of 2015: a new mountain station including a restaurant on top of the Chäserrugg (2262 metres above sea level) in Toggenburg, Switzerland; Helsinki Dreispitz, a residential development and archive in Münchenstein/Basel, Switzerland; Asklepios 8 – an office building on the Novartis Campus in Basel, Switzerland; the Slow Food Pavilion for Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy; the new Bordeaux stadium, a 42’000 seat multifunctional stadium for Bordeaux, France; Miu Miu Aoyama, a 720 m² boutique for the Prada-owned brand located on Miyuki Street, across the road from Prada Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan.

In many projects the architects have worked together with artists, an eminent example of that practice being the collaboration with Rémy Zaugg, Thomas Ruff and with Michael Craig-Martin.

Professionally, the Herzog & de Meuron partnership has grown to become an office with over 120 people worldwide. In addition to their headquarters in Basel, they have offices in London, Munich and San Francisco. Herzog has explained, “We work in teams, but the teams are not permanent. We rearrange them as new projects begin. All of the work results from discussions between Pierre and me, as well as our other partners, Harry Gugger and Christine Binswanger. The work by various teams may involve many different talents to achieve the best results which is a final product called architecture by Herzog & de Meuron.”