I visited Alvaro Siza's Bouca housing complex as well as the faculty of architecture of the university of Porto on oct.the 20th,2024. I had already visited his designed tea house and the pool/piscina das Mares in his native Matosinhos a few years ago.I have also been several times to the portuguese pavillon of the expo 98 in Lisboa-Oriente(now closed to the public due to renovation works).

I even live only about 10 minutes' walk from one of his works, the Bonjour Tristesse building in Berlin, but it should better be called Welcome Tristesse because it is a pretty unsightly and unpleasant building that reminds you of the banlieues of Paris or the big and gray social housing projects in West Germany in the 1970s.

Álvaro Joaquim de Melo Siza Vieira, is one of the most important contemporary european architects. In Portugal, Siza is considered the main representative of modernism. No doubt that he is an important architect of our time, but I don't see any OUV in his work. And in contrast to the famous Bauhaus architects, his buildings did not found a new movement or lay the foundation for a new look for many cities. There are important architects like him in many countries and regions on our planet-there are a dime a dozen. I dont see why his works should be considered something from another planet. Personally, I don't find his Expo pavilion, teahouse or pool in Matosinhos to be from a different dimension. The architecture faculty in Porto is impressive, but not earth-shatteringly innovative.

And as for the Bouca housing complex in Porto near the metro station "Lapa"  I have to agree with our fellow member Ian Cade's wife: it indeed looks like a dystopian prison.......and unlike Ian I wouldnt like to live there :)