THE ÁLVARO SIZA TALKS 2025

Tradition is a challenge to innovation. It is made of successive grafts.

I am a conservative and a traditionalist, that is to say:

I move between conflicts, compromises, hybridization, transformation.

Álvaro Siza

Each year in November, the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art invites architects, students and those interested in architecture in general to participate, for three consecutive days, in a series of reflections and discussions on contemporary architecture in relation to themes and values present in the work of Álvaro Siza.

In the belief that architecture is a form of conversation, each edition of the event has been conceived as an extended conversation around a theme that helps to centre the exchange of ideas and provide a framework for the sessions. The title proposed for this year's edition of The Álvaro Siza Talks is Conversations between Tradition and Innovation.

The relationship between tradition and innovation is at the heart of all artistic activity, and architecture is no exception. Álvaro Siza's work constantly speaks of this relationship, which becomes a productive tension in his creative process. Each generation must reflect on its relationship with tradition. A tradition that – contrary to what one might think, and as is also the case with true creative freedom – cannot be taken for granted, but must instead be acquired or conquered with effort by each architect or practice. Perhaps one of the defining characteristics of the contemporary condition is the simultaneous presence of multiple traditions.

The work of the architects participating in this year's edition of the Talks raises this discussion – in a more or less conscious way and in different modes, but always with intensity. The opening lecture will be delivered by Wang Shu, and the speakers include Ángela García de Paredes (Paredes Pedrosa, Madrid), Cristina Guedes and Francisco Vieira de Campos (Menos é Mais, Porto), Matthias Sauerbruch and Louisa Hutton (sauerbruch hutton, Berlin), Camilo Restrepo Ochoa (AGENdA, Medellín) and Paul and Johannes Robbrecht (Robbrecht en Daem, Ghent).

In addition to Álvaro Siza, the Scientific Committee of “The Álvaro Siza Talks” is composed of Eduardo Souto de Moura, Farrokh Derakhshani (Director of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture), Philippe Vergne (Director of the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art) and Carles Muro (coordinator of The Álvaro Siza Talks).

"The Álvaro Siza Talks" are organized by the Serralves Foundation in collaboration with the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

PROGRAMME

12 NOV

7:00PM: WELCOME

7:30PM: OPENING LECTURE, WANG SHU

13 NOV

6:30PM: CRISTINA GUEDES AND FRANCISCO VIEIRA DE CAMPOS (MENOS É MAIS, PORTO)

7:30PM: PAUL AND JOHANNES ROBBRECHT (ROBBRECHT EN DAEM ARCHITECTEN, GHENT)

14 NOV

5:30PM: CAMILO RESTREPO OCHOA (AGENDA, MEDELLÍN)

6:30Pm: ÁNGELA GARCÍA DE PAREDES (PAREDES PEDROSA, MADRID)

7:30PM: MATTHIAS SAUERBRUCH E LOUISA HUTTON (SAUERBRUCH HUTTON, BERLIN)

The conferences will be in English with simultaneous translation into Portuguese.