Souto de Moura: Memory, Projects, Works

Casa da Arquitectura – Portuguese Centre for Architecture will inaugurate on October 18 its largest exhibition to date and the most significant monographic display of the work of architect Eduardo Souto de Moura.

Under the curatorship of Francesco Dal Co and Nuno Graça Moura, Souto de Moura — Memory, Projects, Works is the result of opening the architect’s vast collection, deposited in Casa da Arquitectura’s Archive, to the public.

It is a chronologically organized journey through 40 years of the architect’s work, notwithstanding some forays and detours which help to make clear the similarities between projects from different eras. A large selection of drawings, sketches, notebooks, photos taken during his travels and other occasions, along with large reproductions of photos of Souto de Moura’s built buildings, will occupy the major space of the exhibition, with the goal to offer to the public a clear image of the complexity of his research and of his professional work. 

A selection of projects is, by its very nature, always partial and incomplete. In this instance, the curators have tried to focus on a set of works that have deemed crucial for a global understanding of Souto de Moura’s work and design method in its various aspects. The exhibition’s material, which we reproduce here, is all original, and mostly shown or published for the first time. The drawings, models, personal notes, photographic material and other documents are presented rigorously, exactly as they were entered into the archive, without any changes or omissions.

The exhibition and catalogue (edited by Casa da Arquitectura and Yale University Press) both have an eminently documentary purpose. The catalogue will have written contributions from luminaries such as Álvaro Siza, Carlos Machado, Francesco Dal Co, Giovanni Leoni, Jorge Figueira, Nuno Graça Moura and Rafael Moneo, among others.

A comprehensive programme of parallel activities, with the curatorship of Nuno Sampaio, Executive director of Casa da Arquitectura, Francesco Dal Co and Nuno Graça Moura, will run alongside the exhibition. These include lectures and discussions with some of the most important Portuguese and international experts in Architecture and other disciplines, music concerts and a set of guided tours where visitors can experience the work in all in its entirety.

“In an era in which, as in former times, a part of architecture seems to have lost some of its essence, we believe that this exhibition presents a unique opportunity to highlight the great importance of Souto de Moura’s work.” Francesco Dal Co and Nuno Graça Moura, curators

Eduardo Souto de Moura
Souto de Moura was born on July 25, 1952, in Oporto, Portugal. He studied architecture at the School of Fine Arts in Oporto, receiving his degree in 1980. In 1974 he collaborated in the architectural practice of Noé Dinis. From 1975 to 1979 he collaborated in the architectural practice of Álvaro Siza. From 1981 to 1991, he was assistant professor in his alma mater, and later began to serve as professor in the Faculty of Architecture in the University of Oporto. Own office since 1980. He has been visiting professor at the architectural schools of Paris-Belleville, Harvard, Dublin, ETH Zurich, Lausanne and Mantova. He has participated in numerous seminars and given many lectures both in Portugal and abroad. His work has appeared in various publications and exhibitions. In 2011 he received the Pritzker Prize, in 2013 the Wolf Prize and in 2017 the Piranesi Prize. In 2018, he received the award “Leone d’oro” in La Biennale di Venezia.

BPI and Foundation “La Caixa” are patrons of the Exhibition

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