'90 Years Álvaro Siza: Two Towers' explores the architect's approach to building tall

The next exhibition to grace Berlin’s Aedes Architecture Forum will focus on the career of the Portuguese-born 1992 Pritzker Prize laureate Álvaro Siza in honor of the architect’s 90th birthday this June. 

Opening May 27, 90 Years Álvaro Siza: Two Towers takes a look at two recent designs — 611 West 56th Street in New York City and the architect’s 2021 watchtower project in Serra das Talhadas, Proença-a-Nova — to address questions using their dichotomies about the apparent absence of tall buildings in his otherwise broad portfolio after 1979.

Most of Siza’s tower designs after that time have gone unrealized as a product of Portugal’s planning laws and topography. Curator António Choupina selected a range of materials — including sketches, architectural models, mock-ups, photos, and other media of each of the built projects, which range in height between 52 and 450 feet respectively — that present the architect's desire to innovate within the typology nonetheless.  

The exhibition, now the second dedicated to Siza at the museum since 1985, runs until July 5. More information about the event can be found here.