Eduardo Souto Moura

Eduardo Souto de Moura (b 1952) has long been one of Portugal’s leading architects but gained wider international recognition when he won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2011. Born in Porto, he collaborated with the much-respected Alvaro Siza from 1974 to 1979 before establishing his own architectural studio in 1980. Since then, he has completed more than 100 projects ranging from private houses such as his Casa do Cinema for film director Manoel de Oliveira in Porto (2002) to larger projects such as the stadium in Braga (2004), the venue for the 2004 European Championships. All are illustrated in this comprehensive book, which also features essays by Souto de Moura and a discussion between Souto de Moura, Siza and fellow Portuguese architect Fernando Tavora. Souto de Moura’s work, often compared to that of Mies van der Rohe, was praised by the Pritzker Prize jury for its ‘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.’ His work often reflects his aesthetic interest in architectural ruins and interstitial spaces, and a desire to create a rapport between nature and architecture. This is demonstrated at Braga, where the substantial stadium is carefully inserted into the side of a granite quarry. His most high-profile recent projects show a powerful use of form – at the Paula Rego Museum near Lisbon (2008), for example, two pyramid-shaped towers of red-coloured concrete loom memorably over the entrance. This monograph is a detailed record of Souto de Moura’s architecture over 35 years with 600 illustrations that do full justice to this impressive body of work.