ÁLVARO SIZA VIEIRA AND EDUARDO SOUTO DE MOURA: A DIALOGUE ON ARCHITECTURE AND MEMORY

Porto, Rua do Aleixo, first floor, an architectural firm, two of the most influential architects in the world sit facing each other questioning themselves on the way and meaning of making architecture in history. It’s a Sunday in February, bright sunbeams breach through the large window overlooking the Douro. The Socratic dialogue, of those who base their knowledge on experimentation and the exercise of doubt, focuses on the project and ideas. It is animated by experience, sharing, continuous dialogue between fellow friends on matters regarding designing in historical and archaeological sites, in commemoration sites, to understand if pre-existences are something to take into account when intervening in an urban fabric already consolidated by time, something to question or respect or, moreover, something to use freely in the design of the new project. It is not a matter of little consequence; it distinguishes a specific method of approach to the transformation of reality and addresses to the evolution of spaces. An observer, even more Socratically, knows that he does not know but believes that the enquiry must be considered as the foundation for any architectural reasoning that professes to be coherent with reality and responsible for the transformations triggered by the design and wanted or planned by its designer.