The International Committee of Architectural Critics (CICA) was founded in 1978, during the 13th World Congress of the International Union of Architects (UIA), by Pierre Vago, Bruno Zevi, Max Blumenthal, Mildred Schmertz, Blake Huges, Jorge Glusberg, Louise Noëlle and Julius Posener, among others.

Following the International Conferences On the Duty and the Power of Architectural Criticism (2021), Defining Architectural Quality (2022) and Architecture as Built Criticism (2023), the 2024 conference seeks to recognize Álvaro Siza and Denise Scott Bown’s contributions, “Between Autonomy and Engagement”.

The tribute to Álvaro Siza will take place at the Serralves Foundation, as part of the parallel programming curated by architect António Choupina for the exhibition C.A.S.A. (Collection, Álvaro Siza Archive). The event will feature an introduction by the president of CICA, Prof. Dr. h.c. Wilfried Wang, followed by a talk with professor Ana Tostões (AICA_PT president and CICA member), where Álvaro Siza will address his favourite building in order to answer the questions: Should a building be a world onto itself? Or should it relate to its context? Do the best buildings achieve both: create their own order and language while also addressing and even shaping their environment?