Gallery Jaroslav Fragner is exhibiting the generous works of the "modest architect" Eduardo Souto de Moura
16.3. – 29.4.2012, lecture 30.4.2012 at 19:00
With a bit of exaggeration, one could say that the work of the originally Portuguese but globally significant architect Eduardo Souto de Moura was popularized in the Czech Republic by television football commentators. In 2004, during the football EURO held in Portugal, the stadium designed by de Moura in the town of Braga was one of the most glorified highlights of the championship, surpassing many million-dollar players. This is far from the only connection this creator has with football: in relation to his recent awarding of the prestigious Pritzker Prize architectural award, de Moura's recent realization of a villa complex dazzling in white was mentioned, which was commissioned by none other than the star of the Portuguese national team and a mainstay of the renowned Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Visitors who come to the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery in Prague from March 17 to April 29, however, can look forward less to opulent presentations of de Moura's best realizations and more to the often modestly conceived search for ideas, expressions, solutions, and the gradual steps leading to the final form of the building. The exhibition is titled Competitions - 1979 - 2010 and presents 50 competition proposals mapping 30 years of work by this Portuguese architect and his studio. The presentation was made possible by the efforts and perseverance of de Moura's close collaborators André Campos and Pedro Guedes de Oliveira. In an imaginative, minimalist composition, it offers over three hundred sketches, detailed projects of the most important architectural competitions in which de Moura participated, models, photographs, videos, plans, and other documentation illustrating the creative process. The highlight of the exhibition will be a lecture by Eduardo Souto de Moura at the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague on Monday, April 30.
The subject of the exhibition is worth noting - proposals for architectural competitions. More than half of them were announced outside Portugal, yet most share a theme - the assignments related to urban planning or civic amenities of cities or the design of public spaces or furniture. The proposals include projects with cultural, healthcare, sports, or religious functions. There is also a significant number of projects related to transport architecture and urbanism (railways, metros, airports), whereas de Moura only marginally participated in competitions for residential or hotel buildings and complexes.
"This creator's exhibition, who is valued in the world of the finest architecture for his humility and modesty, confirms our gallery's interest in the Portuguese architectural scene. It ranks among the European top, just like the Netherlands or Denmark," says Dan Merta, head of the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery, continuing: "In de Moura's language of architecture, one can trace the 'affinities' of his teacher Álvaro Siza." For Czech readers, there is also the publication Interviews with Students, released three years ago by the Archa publishing house. A reprint of the book will be available at the gallery, as well as the exhibition catalog and a monographic issue of the magazine El Croquis.
In the mentioned construction of the football stadium in the Portuguese city of Braga, all the principles of de Moura's work can be illustrated as characterized by the co-curator of the exhibition André Campos: "He is fascinated by new ways of using old materials, new research in the design of all kinds of irregular, fragmented, curved architectural volumes (…) His architecture expresses reflection, culture, obsession with specific themes, hard work, and comparative analysis, an expedition into the works and theories of other architects. It’s as if he were always in a laboratory trying to solve the questions he poses to himself (…) The solution of the project is also a game, a puzzle, a problem that needs to be solved."
In the case of the stadium in Braga, de Moura did not hesitate to spend considerable time studying the acoustics of Greek theaters (there are many more parallels between football and theater than might appear, and even Real Madrid is nicknamed the "White Ballet"), drawing inspiration from suspension footbridges of South American Indians, and the building also bears a disquieting expression evoking the movement of tectonic plates during an earthquake. The author actually drew from the impressive surroundings of the stadium - a former quarry…
The deserved respect of architects and clients, as well as public sympathy, has also been earned by de Moura through his other realizations: a metro station in Porto, the red cones of the Museu Paula Rego in Cascais, the conversion of the Cistercian monastery Santa Maria do Bouro, the reconstruction of the Museu de Grão Vasco in Viseu, or the "Cinema House" of director Manoel de Oliveira in Porto, but also the national pavilion at EXPO 2000 in Hanover or the Serpentine Gallery pavilion in London in 2006 (the pavilion in Kensington Gardens has only a twelve-year tradition but is among the most prestigious contemporary architectural challenges). In both of the latter projects, he collaborated with his mentor Álvaro Siza.
In the text by Petr Volf (Hospodářské noviny 06/2011), intersections between Souto de Moura's work and the German architect Mies van der Rohe are hinted at. They tangibly arise in the realization of the office building Burgo Tower in his native Porto. As Petr Volf notes, the Portuguese creator achieved "Miesian" purity and simplicity of forms in the object from 2006, which he carved down to its very core; the horizontal part of the building complements the vertical glass prism in perfect proportions.
Eduardo Souto Moura was born in 1952, studied architecture in Porto at ESBAP (Escola Superior de Belas-Artes do Porto/Architecture) and has worked since his studies with another giant of 20th-century Portuguese architecture, Álvaro Siza. He established his own studio immediately after graduation, but he also remained in academia as an assistant and later as a professor at many architectural faculties across Europe. Currently, this is FAUP (Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto).
It was at FAUP that the exhibition project Competitions 1979 - 2010 was presented for the very first time. "Sometimes the theme of the exhibition 'architectural competitions' can evoke the notion of evaluating the image of the resulting product or even the predominance of the concept, up to something utopian or unattainable, something beyond and above the capabilities of the work itself. In many competitions, architectural proposals appear as immaterial, sometimes unable to provide a comprehensive and detailed representation of what is actually designed," reflects curator André Campos. "However, it is useful to observe to what extent there is a working method supporting the development of the design - the program, materials, location, history, references, sketches, models, precise drawings, photomontages, photographs, clients. It essentially deals with informed architecture developed with conceptual precision, deployment, and enthusiasm, similar to when a scientist seeks a solution."
EDUARDO SOUTO DE MOURA - COMPETITIONS 1979-2010
March 16 - April 29, 2012
Open daily except Mondays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Simultaneously interpreted lecture by architect Eduardo Souto de Moura
Bethlehem Chapel, April 30, 2012, 7:00 p.m., admission 50/100 CZK.
Reservation necessary: [email protected]
The exhibition is held under the patronage of His Excellency José Júlio Pereira Gomes, Ambassador of Portugal to the Czech Republic, and Doc. MUDr. Bohuslav Svoboda, Mayor of the Capital City of Prague.
Organizers:
Jaroslav Fragner Gallery
Instituto Camões
Supported by:
Embassy of Portugal in the Czech Republic
Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic
Capital City of Prague
Czech Architecture Foundation
Faculty of Architecture, Czech Technical University in Prague
Curators: André Campos, Pedro Guedes de Oliveira,
Production: Klára Pučerová, Zuzana Prokopová
Exhibition Concept: Eduardo Souto de Moura, André Campos, Pedro Guedes de Oliveira
Exhibition Design: R2 Design
Graphics: Jan Šerých
Thanks to: Jiří Klokočka, Lukáš Hudák
Visitors who come to the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery in Prague from March 17 to April 29, however, can look forward less to opulent presentations of de Moura's best realizations and more to the often modestly conceived search for ideas, expressions, solutions, and the gradual steps leading to the final form of the building. The exhibition is titled Competitions - 1979 - 2010 and presents 50 competition proposals mapping 30 years of work by this Portuguese architect and his studio. The presentation was made possible by the efforts and perseverance of de Moura's close collaborators André Campos and Pedro Guedes de Oliveira. In an imaginative, minimalist composition, it offers over three hundred sketches, detailed projects of the most important architectural competitions in which de Moura participated, models, photographs, videos, plans, and other documentation illustrating the creative process. The highlight of the exhibition will be a lecture by Eduardo Souto de Moura at the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague on Monday, April 30.
The subject of the exhibition is worth noting - proposals for architectural competitions. More than half of them were announced outside Portugal, yet most share a theme - the assignments related to urban planning or civic amenities of cities or the design of public spaces or furniture. The proposals include projects with cultural, healthcare, sports, or religious functions. There is also a significant number of projects related to transport architecture and urbanism (railways, metros, airports), whereas de Moura only marginally participated in competitions for residential or hotel buildings and complexes.
"This creator's exhibition, who is valued in the world of the finest architecture for his humility and modesty, confirms our gallery's interest in the Portuguese architectural scene. It ranks among the European top, just like the Netherlands or Denmark," says Dan Merta, head of the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery, continuing: "In de Moura's language of architecture, one can trace the 'affinities' of his teacher Álvaro Siza." For Czech readers, there is also the publication Interviews with Students, released three years ago by the Archa publishing house. A reprint of the book will be available at the gallery, as well as the exhibition catalog and a monographic issue of the magazine El Croquis.
In the mentioned construction of the football stadium in the Portuguese city of Braga, all the principles of de Moura's work can be illustrated as characterized by the co-curator of the exhibition André Campos: "He is fascinated by new ways of using old materials, new research in the design of all kinds of irregular, fragmented, curved architectural volumes (…) His architecture expresses reflection, culture, obsession with specific themes, hard work, and comparative analysis, an expedition into the works and theories of other architects. It’s as if he were always in a laboratory trying to solve the questions he poses to himself (…) The solution of the project is also a game, a puzzle, a problem that needs to be solved."
In the case of the stadium in Braga, de Moura did not hesitate to spend considerable time studying the acoustics of Greek theaters (there are many more parallels between football and theater than might appear, and even Real Madrid is nicknamed the "White Ballet"), drawing inspiration from suspension footbridges of South American Indians, and the building also bears a disquieting expression evoking the movement of tectonic plates during an earthquake. The author actually drew from the impressive surroundings of the stadium - a former quarry…
The deserved respect of architects and clients, as well as public sympathy, has also been earned by de Moura through his other realizations: a metro station in Porto, the red cones of the Museu Paula Rego in Cascais, the conversion of the Cistercian monastery Santa Maria do Bouro, the reconstruction of the Museu de Grão Vasco in Viseu, or the "Cinema House" of director Manoel de Oliveira in Porto, but also the national pavilion at EXPO 2000 in Hanover or the Serpentine Gallery pavilion in London in 2006 (the pavilion in Kensington Gardens has only a twelve-year tradition but is among the most prestigious contemporary architectural challenges). In both of the latter projects, he collaborated with his mentor Álvaro Siza.
In the text by Petr Volf (Hospodářské noviny 06/2011), intersections between Souto de Moura's work and the German architect Mies van der Rohe are hinted at. They tangibly arise in the realization of the office building Burgo Tower in his native Porto. As Petr Volf notes, the Portuguese creator achieved "Miesian" purity and simplicity of forms in the object from 2006, which he carved down to its very core; the horizontal part of the building complements the vertical glass prism in perfect proportions.
Eduardo Souto Moura was born in 1952, studied architecture in Porto at ESBAP (Escola Superior de Belas-Artes do Porto/Architecture) and has worked since his studies with another giant of 20th-century Portuguese architecture, Álvaro Siza. He established his own studio immediately after graduation, but he also remained in academia as an assistant and later as a professor at many architectural faculties across Europe. Currently, this is FAUP (Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto).
It was at FAUP that the exhibition project Competitions 1979 - 2010 was presented for the very first time. "Sometimes the theme of the exhibition 'architectural competitions' can evoke the notion of evaluating the image of the resulting product or even the predominance of the concept, up to something utopian or unattainable, something beyond and above the capabilities of the work itself. In many competitions, architectural proposals appear as immaterial, sometimes unable to provide a comprehensive and detailed representation of what is actually designed," reflects curator André Campos. "However, it is useful to observe to what extent there is a working method supporting the development of the design - the program, materials, location, history, references, sketches, models, precise drawings, photomontages, photographs, clients. It essentially deals with informed architecture developed with conceptual precision, deployment, and enthusiasm, similar to when a scientist seeks a solution."
EDUARDO SOUTO DE MOURA - COMPETITIONS 1979-2010
March 16 - April 29, 2012
Open daily except Mondays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Simultaneously interpreted lecture by architect Eduardo Souto de Moura
Bethlehem Chapel, April 30, 2012, 7:00 p.m., admission 50/100 CZK.
Reservation necessary: [email protected]
The exhibition is held under the patronage of His Excellency José Júlio Pereira Gomes, Ambassador of Portugal to the Czech Republic, and Doc. MUDr. Bohuslav Svoboda, Mayor of the Capital City of Prague.
Organizers:
Jaroslav Fragner Gallery
Instituto Camões
Supported by:
Embassy of Portugal in the Czech Republic
Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic
Capital City of Prague
Czech Architecture Foundation
Faculty of Architecture, Czech Technical University in Prague
Curators: André Campos, Pedro Guedes de Oliveira,
Production: Klára Pučerová, Zuzana Prokopová
Exhibition Concept: Eduardo Souto de Moura, André Campos, Pedro Guedes de Oliveira
Exhibition Design: R2 Design
Graphics: Jan Šerých
Thanks to: Jiří Klokočka, Lukáš Hudák
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