PORTO.- The renowned Pritzker Prize winning Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza has signed a public deed formalising the donation of part of his archive to Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, in Porto, Portugal. The donated archive consists of 40 projects including sketches, plans, drawings and scale models of some of his most significant projects (see list below).

The donation forms part of a collaboration between Serralves, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (in Lisbon, Portugal) and the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA, in Montreal, Canada) – the three institutions designated by Alvaro Siza to receive his archive, a privileged testimony of his work that spans more than six decades.

The three institutions were considered by the architect to be the most appropriate for the management and conservation of his archive, and above all to foster a new research model for international cooperation, in order to expand public awareness of architecture in Portugal and abroad, by providing his archive for the purposes of consultation.

The collaborative project of Serralves, Gulbenkian and the CCA is based on a shared vision and the desire to establish the best possible criteria for conservation, cataloguing and future access to the archive, in particular through the development of common tools shared by the three institutions, which will allow online access. In the future, they will organize research and exhibition, publishing and educational programmes designed to stimulate interest and discussion, at the national and international level, about the role of architecture in contemporary society.

Suzanne Cotter, director of the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, views this project as “an opportunity to strengthen a field of programming for the museum and its collection and archive-based activities, and to promote reflection and debate about architecture in relation to contemporary art and culture”. In summer 2016, Serralves Museum plans to present an exhibition dedicated to Álvaro Siza’s archive.

List of projects donated by Álvaro Siza to Serralves Museum:

• Four dwellings, Matosinhos, 1954-1957 • Parish hall and service centre, Matosinhos, 1958-1959 • Low-cost housing unit, Herculano Ninharelhos, Matosinhos, 1956 • Carneiro de Melo House, Porto, 1957-1959 • Swimming pool, Quinta da Conceição estate, Matosinhos, 1958-1965 • Luis Rocha Ribeiro House, Maia, project of 1959 and 1960-1962 • Lordelo Cooperative, Porto, 1960-1963 • Ferreira da Costa House, Matosinhos, 1962-1965 • Alves Santos House, Póvoa de Varzim, 1964-1968 • Enlargement of the Rocha Ribeiro House, Maia, 1969 • Alcino Cardoso House I, Gateira, Moledo do Minho, 1971-1973 • Carlos Beires House, Póvoa de Varzim, 1973-1976 • Remodelling and staircase of the Calém House, Porto, 1975 • Maria Margarida Machado House, Arcozelo, 1979 • Recovery of the house and outbuildings of the Quinta da Póvoa estate, Porto, 1985-1984 • Luis Figueiredo House, Gondomar, 1984-1994 • Carlos Ramos Pavilion, Porto, 1985-1986 • Faculty of Architecture, University of Porto, Porto, 1987-1993 • Cesar Rodrigues House, Porto, 1987-1996 • Remodelling of the Ferreira da Costa House, Matosinhos, 1988-1993 • Alcino Cardoso House II, Gateira, Moledo do Minho, 1988-1991 • Housing complex and offices in the Avenida da Boavista, Porto, 1990-1998 • Remodelling of the Chapel of Serralves Villa, Porto, 1990 • Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, 1991 • Recovery of the Costa Braga Building, Matosinhos, 1993-1997 • Office Building, Aleixo, Porto, 1993-1997 • Children's farm, Serralves Foundation, Porto, 1994 • Coffee shop, Serralves Villa, Porto, 1994 • Administration building of the Ports of Douro and Leixões, Leça da Palmeira, 1995 • Alcino Cardoso House III, Gateira, Moledo do Minho, 1996-1997 • Commercial and residential building, Porto, 1998 • Porto Subway, São Bento Station, Porto, 1999 • Porto 2001 European Capital of Culture, redevelopment of the Avenida D. Afonso Henriques, Porto, 1999 • Porto 2001 European Capital of Culture, urban intervention in the Praça da Liberdade, Porto, 1999 • Porto 2001 European Capital of Culture, Fonte do Cativo, Porto, 1999 • Restoration of Serralves Villa, Porto, 2000 • Multipurpose pavilion, Gondomar, 2000-2007 • Armanda Passos House, Porto, 2002-2006 • Reception and information centre/shop, Serralves Foundation, 2003.