Construir a Transformação. Entre quatro paredes, quatro casas com Álvaro Siza

Abstract

Building on the built has always been a constant reality of the architect's work. The need to explore and study strategies for the conservation project of a small rural family house in a village near Peso da Régua, which we intend to transform, was the starting point of this research work. It works simultaneously as a way to deepen our knowledge on theories, methodologies and design practices in pre-existing structures. We also make use of this Dissertation to develop research on (the work of) an architect of our interest, which allows us to experience and confront the problems and knowledge acquired during the design project in a process that is intended to be that of learning-by-doing, which characterizes the path of any architect. Thus, Álvaro Siza (1933), an unavoidable household name in Portuguese architecture, and the author of a vast work in the country and all over the world for more than six decades, is the architect we chose to focus on. The architect's written, designed and built work is here considered our study subject. We are primarily interested in the author's thoughts, and his design and conservation practices with pre-existing buildings, of which housing was the original and design function. Under this assumption, three case studies were selected - the Alcino Cardoso House (1971-1973; 1986-1991), the José Manuel Teixeira House (1980-1991) and the Santo Ovídio Estate (1988- 1994; 1995-2002) -, which are analyzed and discussed based on pre-defined parameters, seeking to find similarities, and/or specificities of the buildings and their design process. In the prologue and the epilogue, we bring together the thoughts of our own design project for the house in Régua which were developed in parallel with our research. This Dissertation was developed at the intersection of several different methodologies and techniques, in which drawing as a research tool plays a decisive role. In addition to the necessary bibliographic and archival research during which we collected information on the case studies from pre-existence to the conservation project; fieldwork was an essential part of the research process. Only these allowed for the subsequent treatment, redesign, and elaboration of the graphic material (analysis schemes, addition-demolition drawings, and constructive details), from which conclusions are drawn. Therefore, we follow Siza's teachings as we try to (re)construct the process narratives that guide and explain the decisions adopted in the design projects selected here as an analytical and reflective support for the development of a personal project proposal. Simultaneously, we try to deepen the theme of building on the built, which dominates the professional practice of architects today.