In 2020 I visited two of Siza’s works in Northern Portugal: a bank in Vila do Conde (something white and Le Corbusier-ish with many windows in a street with mainly traditional buildings) and the Casa Carlos Beires in Pavoa de Varzim (a yellow family house located in a residential area with other interesting modern buildings, looking very run down). Both have since been dropped from the shortlist of this nomination, so I had to return to Portugal to reclaim my ‘tick’. 

The Pavilhão de Portugal serves this purpose very well, as it lies only 3 stops by metro (disembark at Oriente) from Lisbon Airport. I visited it during a stopover for a few hours on my way to Cabo Verde. The Pavillion is considered one of Siza’s main works, so it is a sure bet. I knew it was undergoing renovations and I wasn’t expecting much from the area either, since former fairgrounds such as these often fail to find a new use. It proved to be a bustling area though, mainly attracting Lisbon’s youth. There is a big modern mall adjacent to the metro station, and I found an endless line of 14-year-old girls waiting for a concert by Gracie Abrams to start in the MEO Arena.

The City has not long ago sold the Pavillion to the University of Lisbon. They are renovating the usable half, adding airco and making it liveable in general. The other half, the one with the curved roof and the tiled walls, is now used as parking for the workers and is a popular spot for the homeless staying the night. You cannot fully circle the building at the moment, but it is still worth looking at it from all possible sides.

The Pavillion clearly is more grandiose than the other works by Siza that I have seen. Still, I find it doubtful that his reputation would be enough for a WH recognition: what has his influence been on the work of others for example? I read some architectural blogs about him as preparation for my visit, some critics see his ‘poor’ northern Portuguese roots reflected in his minimalist works. Others find his architecture complex and difficult to describe.