Following the highly acclaimed retrospective I.M. Pei: Life Is Architecture, the Power Station of Art is proud to host another Pritzker Prize-winning architect, Alvaro Siza, one of the most celebrated architects of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Over his illustrious 70-year career, he has completed more than 550 projects spanning Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

The exhibition Alvaro Siza: The Archive is the largest retrospective of his work in Asia to date, featuring over 800 pieces. It is divided into nine chronological segments that explore Siza's built and unbuilt works:

(1) The "Art Collection" section includes his childhood drawings, mature hand-drawn sketches from later years, and sculptures created specifically for this exhibition.

(2) "Houses" includes Siza's earliest and most fundamental construction experiments, focusing on his residential designs.

(3) The "Portuguese Revolution(s)" segment narrates how he addressed local demographic and housing challenges through modernist architectural approaches during the transformative changes in Portugal beginning in the 1970s.

(4) "Sacred Sites" highlights Siza's innovative design solutions for places of worship, integrating various traditions and customs.

(5) "Idleness and Sport" highlights the Quinta da Conceicao swimming pool in Leca da Palmeira, Portugal, which marks the beginning of Siza's vision of architecture as a crafted landscape within the natural environment.

(6) "Commerce and Finance" presents Siza's first commercial commission, the Boa Nova Tea House in Leca da Palmeira, Portugal, a groundbreaking example of contemporary design in the country.

(7) "Education and Knowledge" focuses on the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Porto, illustrating how Siza redefined his alma mater through open-space design that fosters interaction between faculty and students, introducing a new spatial order.

(8) "Exhibition and Culture" surveys Siza's projects for museums, foundations, and other cultural institutions across Europe and Asia, highlighting how his designs merge the sculptural qualities of architecture with local topography and cultural context to create distinctive spatial experiences. His largest architectural project to date, the Haishang Museum in Shanghai (unbuilt), is presented through manuscripts and models.

(9) In the special section at the end of the exhibition, visitors can also view a scale model of Siza's latest architectural work — the Alvaro Siza Wing.

Plan your visit

• Exhibition dates: Until Sept 7
• Location: 5F, Power Station of Art (No 678 Miaojiang Road, Huangpu district)
• Opening hours: 11 am – 7 pm
• Tickets: 60 yuan ($8.35)

Scan the QR code below to purchase tickets.

Source: Power Station of Art