Portuguese Architect Will Be Presented the 2011 Pritzker Architecture Prize in Washington, D.C.
Eduardo Souto de Moura
Image: Augusto Brázio
Eduardo Souto de Moura, a 58 year old architect from Portugal, is the jury’s choice for the 2011 Pritzker Architecture Prize, it was announced on 28 March
2011 by Thomas J. Pritzker, chairman of The Hyatt Foundation which sponsors the prize. The formal ceremony for what has come to be known throughout the world as architecture’s highest honor will be in
one of Washington, D.C.’s finest classical buildings, the Andrew W. Mellon
Auditorium on 2 June 2011.
In announcing the jury’s choice, Pritzker elaborated, “This marks the second time in the history of the prize that a Portuguese architect has been chosen. The first was in 1992 when Alvaro Siza was so honored.”
The purpose of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, which was founded in 1979 by the late Jay A. Pritzker and his wife, Cindy, is to honor annually a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture. The laureates receive a $100,000 grant and a bronze medallion.
Pritzker Prize jury chairman, The Lord Palumbo, spoke from his home in the United Kingdom, quoting from the jury citation that focuses on the reasons for this year’s choice: “During the past three decades, Eduardo Souto de Moura has produced a body of work that is of our time but also carries echoes of architectural traditions.” And further, “His buildings have
a unique ability to convey seemingly conflicting characteristics — power and
modesty, bravado and subtlety, bold public authority and a sense of
intimacy —at the same time.”
Work and Life
As a student, Souto de Moura worked for Alvaro Siza for five years. Since forming his own office in 1980, Souto de Moura has completed well over sixty projects, most in his native Portugal, but he has designs in Spain, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom and Switzerland. The projects include single family homes, a cinema, shopping centers, hotels, apartments, offices, art galleries and museums, schools, sports facilities and subways.
2000-2003. Architecture project for the Braga Stadium Braga, Portugal. Image: Luis Ferreira Alves
His stadium in Braga, Portugal was the site of European soccer championships when it was completed in 2004, and gained high praise. Nearly a million and a half cubic yards of granite were blasted from the site and crushed to make concrete for the stadium. Precise explosions of a mountain side created a hundred foot high granite face that terminates one end of the stadium. Souto de Moura describes this coexistence of the natural with the man made construction as good architecture. In his own words, “It was a drama to break down the mountain and make concrete from the stone.” The jury citation calls this work, “...muscular, monumental and very much at home within its powerful landscape.”
Another of his projects, the Burgo Tower, completed in 2007, constructed in
the city where he lives and works, Porto, Portugal, is described by the jury as,
“...two buildings side by side, one vertical and one horizontal with different
scales, in dialogue with each other and the
urban landscape.” Souto de Moura commented that “a twenty story office tower is
an unusual project for me. I began my career building single family houses.”
Souto de Moura has designed numerous residences, one of which, House Number Two built in the town of Bom Jesus, was singled out by the jury for its “uncommon richness throughout the subtle banding in the concrete of its exterior walls.”
Souto de Moura’s comments on the project: “Because the site was a fairly steep hill overlooking the city of Braga, we decided not to produce a large volume resting on a hilltop. Instead, we made the construction on five terraces with retainer walls, with a different function defined for each terrace - fruit trees on the lowest level, a swimming pool on the next, the main parts of the house on the next, bedrooms on the fourth, and on the top, we planted a forest.” Another project in his native city, Porto, is the Cultural Center completed in 1991,
which the jury describes as “a testament to his ability to combine materials
expressively.” He used copper, stone, concrete and wood.
1989-97 Conversion of the Santa Maria do Bouro Convent into a State Inn, Amares, Portugal. Interior views.
Image: Luis Ferreira Alves
A convent and monastery in a mountainous terrain near Amares, Portugal,
called Santa Maria do Bouro was a project for Souto de Moura from 1989 to 1997,
in which he converted the centuries old structure into a state inn. He recalls
the walls were over four feet thick. Originally built in the 12th century, the
jury declares in their citation that Souto de Moura “has created spaces that are
both consistent with their history and modern in conception.”
Souto de Moura, in describing another of his projects, has said, “After the
painter Paula Rego chose me as her architect, I was lucky to be able to choose
the site. It was a fenced off forest with some open space in the middle. On the
basis of the elevation of the trees, I proposed a set of volumes of
varying heights. Developing this play between the artificial and nature helped
define the exterior color, red concrete, a color in opposition to the green
forest. Two large pyramids along the entrance axis prevent the project from
being a neutral sum of boxes.” The Paula Rego Museum, completed in 2008, is cited
by the jury as “both civic and intimate, and so appropriate for the display of
art.”
1991-2007 - Burgo Project in Boavista Avenue (Office Blocks and Commercial Mall), Porto, Portugal. Image: Christian Richters
Often described as a “Miesian architect,” the jury acknowledged this
influence with the words, “He has the confidence to use stone that is a thousand
years old or to take inspiration from a modern detail by Mies van der
Rohe.” Upon learning that he was being honored, Souto de Moura had this reaction:
“When I received the phone call telling me I was to be the Pritzker Laureate, I
could hardly believe it. Then I received confirmation that it was actually true,
and I came to realize what a great honor this is. The fact that this is
the second time a Portuguese architect has been chosen makes it even more
important.”
The distinguished jury that selected the 2011 Pritzker Laureate consists of
its chairman,
The Lord Palumbo, internationally known architectural patron of London, chairman
of the
trustees, Serpentine Gallery, former chairman of the Arts Council of Great
Britain, former
chairman of the Tate Gallery Foundation, and former trustee of the Mies van der
Rohe
Archive at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and alphabetically: Alejandro
Aravena,
architect and executive director of Elemental in Santiago, Chile; Carlos
Jimenez, professor,
Rice University School of Architecture, principal, Carlos Jimenez Studio in
Houston, Texas;
Glenn Murcutt, architect and 2002 Pritzker Laureate of Sydney, Australia; Juhani
Pallasmaa,
architect, professor and author of Helsinki, Finland; Renzo Piano, architect and
1998 Pritzker
Laureate, of Paris, France and Genoa, Italy; and Karen Stein, writer, editor and
architectural
consultant in New York. Martha Thorne, associate dean for external relations, IE
School of
Architecture, Madrid, Spain, is the executive director of the prize.
In addition to the previous laureates already mentioned, a number of great
architects received the Prize. To mention only a few of them: the late Philip Johnson
was the first Pritzker Laureate in 1979. Ieoh
Ming Pei in 1983, and Richard Meier in 1984. Hans Hollein of Austria was the
1985 Laureate.
Gottfried Böhm of Germany received the prize in 1986. Frank Gehry of the United States was the recipient in
1989, Renzo Piano of Italy, in 1999 Sir Norman
Foster of
the UK, and in 2000, Rem Koolhaas of the Netherlands. Zaha
Hadid of
the UK was honored in 2004; and Thom Mayne of the United States in 2005. In 2009, Peter Zumthor of Switzerland
received the award.
Last year, two Japanese architects were honored, partners Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue
Nishizawa
of SANAA, Inc.
The site for this year’s ceremony, the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium was erected
between
1932 and 1934, and is part of a large nine-building office complex called the
Federal Triangle.
At the time of its construction, it was the largest government owned assembly
space in the city,
and considered as one of the most magnificent settings for government ceremonies.
It was
designed by San Francisco based architect Arthur Brown, Jr. Originally called
the Departmental
Auditorium, it was renamed in 1987, the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium.
Further Information:
www.pritzkerprize.com
german version