Álvaro Siza, Terraços de Bragança, Lisboa, 2005 - Wasted Project (1)

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This could have been a beautiful White & Blue book, about a beautiful architectural project in Lisbon downtown by Álvaro Siza. Mr. Siza was kind enough, as always, to guarantee all his collaboration, but somehow the book never came to life.

Feeling pity that it remains wasted, I don't want it to be a completely lost project, so I let you enjoy the photographs, while it's publication keeps on waiting for a better opportunity.

Film cameras were used exclusively on the documentation shown above:

- Sinar F2, with Rodenstock and Schneider lenses, for 4x5" and 6x12 (Horseman back);
- Horseman SW612 Pro, with Rodenstock lenses, for 6x12.

- Corfield WA67, Schneider Super-Angulon 47mm, for 6x7.

- Hasselblad 500 C/M, with Carl Zeiss lenses, for 6x6.

Light meter and color meter by Gossen.

Film by Kodak.

Tripods by Gitzo and Manfrotto.

Transparencies and b&w negatives scanned with Epson Perfection 4990.

Assistance by Luís Morais de Sousa, my son.

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A new book: "Álvaro Siza - Apontamentos de uma arquitectura sensível"

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A couple of days ago DHL delivered, coming from Loft Publications in Barcelona, Spain, one more book displaying some photographs of mine.

One more interesting publication to add to my CV!

Cover photograph: Meteorology Centre, Barcelona.

It is a well designed and well printed book.

Hardcover, 192 pages. Square format 23,5x23,5 cm (approximately).

Art director: Mireia Casanovas Soley.

Texts by Àlex Sánchez Vidiella (author).

Copyright 2009 by Loft Publications, Barcelona, and Bertrand Editora, Lisbon.

I am proud to say that I am the author of most photographs (94), but the book also shows work by Duccio Malagamba, FG+SG Arquitectura and Luís Ferreira Alves.

My photographs show the following architectural works:
- Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Fundação de Serralves, Oporto, Portugal.
- Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
- Pavilhão de Portugal, Expo'98, Lisbon, Portugal.
- Centro Meteorológico, Barcelona, Spain.
- Vitra Furniture Factory, Weil am Rhein, Germany.
- Edifício de Escritórios, Oliveira de Azeméis, Portugal.
- Estação do Metropolitano, Baixa-Chiado, Lisbon, Portugal.
- Faculdade de Arquitectura, Oporto, Portugal.
- Doedijnstraat Housing Estate, Den Haag, Netherlands.
- Casa de Chá da Boa Nova, Leça da Palmeira, Portugal.
- Complexo Terraços de Bragança, Lisbon, Portugal.


If the architecture of Mr. Álvaro Siza is appealing to you, this is a book that you should consider acquiring.
(Don't forget, my own books are also for sale; Christmas is coming...).

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Álvaro Siza - Casa de Chá da Boa Nova (1958-63)

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Of all the projects by Álvaro Siza that I had the chance to photograph, the Boa Nova Tea House quickly gained a special corner deep inside my emotions.

Maybe it is it's rather small scale, maybe it is the nearness to the light house and the ever presence of the ocean, maybe it is this constant interplay between the rocks and the horizon, I don't exactly know, but the whole site possesses something kind of magical to me.

When approaching the Tea Room, you never see it or understand it totally, the architectonic volumes and shapes melt with the rocks and the blue color of water and sky, forming a kind of sculpture.

You are tempted to forget that you are walking towards a space that was built for a very clear purpose: to be a tea house and restaurant.

I remember beeing a small kid and spending holidays every now and then with my grandparents in Porto.

On occasion, if she was feeling courageous, my grandmother would sit at the steering wheel of "Boguinhas" (their Fiat 600), and would drive us to the beach in Matosinhos or Leça da Palmeira. Really not very often, as she was a terrible driver...

Some other days, my grandfather would take me on his Vespa and we could go for a ride along the coast, maybe stopping in Leixões looking at the harbor cranes loading cargo on the ships.

You may well understand that this whole region evokes some grateful memories for me, relics of a long-gone era...

I ask myself if in a couple of years I can recognize the place...

The first photograph on this post, was shot in 13x18 (5x7 inches) with my Gandolfi Precision 8x10, using a reducing back. I am not sure about the lens I used, but I think that it must have been the Apo-Sironar W f/5.6 210mm, from Rodenstock.

All other photographs were done with a Horseman SW612 Pro, also with Rodenstock lenses.
Obviously, I used a 6x12 roll film back on these ones...

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Álvaro Siza - look inside my book

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Scanned directly from the book. Dimensions: 24x24 cm (9,4x9,4 inches).

Bilingual: portuguese / english.

Texts by Paulo Martins Barata, Raquel Henriques da Silva and Bernardo Pinto de Almeida.

Design by José Antunes Barata.

Price: 20 euros + p&p (list price: 31 euros).

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Álvaro Siza - Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela

I think that I don't need to introduce Mr. Siza. He is a well-known and highly-regarded portuguese architect. He has several works around the globe, and I had the privilege of photographing several of them. I will post some of these photographs in a regular basis. For a start, I have choosed a work built in one of my prefered iberian towns: Santiago de Compostela.

Álvaro Siza, Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela.

I made these images in 9x12 / 4x5 inches Kodak Ektachrome sheetfilm, using a Sinar f2 camera.