Álvaro Joaquim de Melo Siza Vieira, or simply Álvaro Siza, was born in Matosinhos, Portugal, on June 25, 1933. His first work – four houses in Matosinhos – was built in 1954, even before completing his studies at the School of Fine Arts from the University of Porto (current Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto – FAUP), which happened a year later.
“The Flying Photographer” is the name of the documentary that will showcase Sara Nunes (architectural film director from Building Pictures) following the amazing journey of Fernando Guerra during the period of one year of travel to get the best architecture photographs from around the world.
Living rooms are spaces dedicated to sharing time with family, receiving visitors, working, and carrying out a wide range of unpredictable activities. Regardless of their size, the key to an innovative design for this part of a house is in creative spatial organization, in its connection to other parts of the home and, above all, in programmatic flexibility. Here, we present a selection of exceptional living rooms captured by renowned photographers such as Hiroshi Ueda, David Foessel, and Wison Tungthunya.
The inclusion of cars in photographs of architecture is an interesting tool that can help the viewer to understand the scale of a building. The addition of an automobile to a scene can not only help to transmit a notion of the size of the photographed elements, it can also be used to generate interesting compositional relationships to benefit the photograph as a whole. Below, we've highlighted a selection of 10 images from prominent photographers such as Rafael Gamo, Michael Sinclair and Bruno Candiotto which make effective use of this technique.
With Halloween just around the corner, this week we have prepared a special edition of Photos of the Week featuring nighttime images. Undoubtedly, this effect is among the most spectacular and difficult to achieve in architecture photography. Working in the absence of light is not a simple task for photographers, but by playing with the artificial lights in buildings (and, usually, some dramatic HDR effects) it is possible to achieve adequate exposure for incredible results. Below is a selection of 15 images from prominent photographers such as Ketsiree Wongwan, Laurian Ghinitoiu and Philippe Ruault.
We are accustomed to seeing photographs in which architecture is recorded without any occupants, or perhaps captured only with models who give scale to the spaces shown. However, in recent years architectural photographers have increasingly decided to humanize the houses they document, presenting not only their architecture, but also those who inhabit these buildings. In this week's best photos, we present a selection of 15 houses captured by renowned photographers such as Luc Roymans, Adrien Williams and Fernando Schapochnik.
The following photo set by Fernando Guerra focuses on Porto's Subway, a project completed in 1996 and projected by the important Portuguese Architect Álvaro Siza Vieira.
Designing a subway station in Porto is about influencing the daily lives of thousands of people, where they daily circulate, establishing flows and routes, in a urbanistic and architectural intervention with large-scale dimensions. Although it demands an extremely functional and austere design, it is possible to see the gestures of the architect through the details and surprises.
This week we have prepared a special selection of 20 images of architecture as seen from the sky. This style of image, made possible by the emergence of drones, is increasingly used in architectural photography. It makes it possible to understand, in a single image, the totality of a project, and to see how the project interacts with the context in which it is immersed. Read on to see a selection of renowned photographers such as Hufton + Crow, Fernando Guerra, NAARO, and Jesús Granada.
The following photo set by Fernando Guerra focuses on the Galician Center of Contemporary Art, a project by Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira.
Located in the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela, the Galician Center for Contemporary Art was developed in 1993. Its declared horizontality and respect for the surrounding buildings and the urban structure are configured in the most remarkable gestures of this project. The solid and austere volumes form the boundaries of the area to the streets, with subtractions that make it accessible. The center has several permanent and temporary exhibition rooms, auditorium, library, cafeteria and administrative rooms.
The strategic definition of a new cruise terminal had a double objective: improvement of the commercial efficiency and a better urban integration. In this photoset, Fernando Guerra captures the many sides of the Leixões Cruise Terminal, a project that won the 2017 Building of the Year Awards in the "Public Architecture" category.
Get to know all the facets of this building below.
In this photoset by Fernando Guerra, the photographer turns his lenses to a little-known project by Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira, Meteorology Center in Barcelona.
This week we present the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto through the lenses of Fernando Guerra. Here we share a complete series from the photographer of this iconic work, along with a brief text on the subject. The University of Porto plays a major role in the world's architectural landscape, always among the highest in rankings and boasting great architects like Eduardo Souto de Moura (Pritzker 2011), Fernando Távora and Álvaro Siza Vieira (Pritzker 1992).
The following photo set by Fernando Guerra focuses on Boa Nova Tea House, a project by Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira. Completed in 1963, it was one of the first works done by the 1992 Pritzker Prize winner. Built on the rocks that hang over the sea in Leça da Palmeira, the tea house is in close proximity to another iconic project by the same architect, the Leça Swimming Pools, both classified as National Monuments in Portugal.
