Eight works by the architect Álvaro Siza in Portugal make up a candidacy for World Heritage, which was submitted last Thursday, after review, said today the director of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (FAUP).
The application entitled "Works of Architecture by Álvaro Siza in Portugal" has been part of the indicative list of World Heritage in Portugal since 2016, with a list of 18 projects, having since been reduced to eight.
The eight projects are the FAUP building, the Piscina das Marés, the Boa Nova Tea House, the Serralves Museum, the Portugal Pavilion in Lisbon, the Bouça District, the Marco de Canavezes Church and the Alves Costa House in Caminha. The director of FAUP, João Pedro Xavier, explained to Lusa that the selection of the eight projects is justified by the "fact that most of them are already heritage" and by the "typological or functional variety of the proposed buildings". The cases of Bairro da Bouça, in Porto, and Casa Alves Costa, in Caminha, were submitted for national classification, so João Pedro Xavier he stressed that there will also need to be "some 'green light'" in relation to these two properties. With regard to Bouça, there is also the expectation that it will be the target of "some works", in particular painting.
The director of FAUP said that "the application is prepared with so-called future extensions", so that, later, other projects by the Pritzker Prize architect can be associated, including abroad. "There, the idea is to include not only some works that are already on the indicative list, Malagueira [in Évora], Chiado [in Lisbon] and other significant works, but also open to works abroad that are outside Portugal", said João Pedro Xavier.
According to a press release from FAUP, dated at the end of March, the first submission of the candidacy took place on January 15, which obtained a "favorable opinion". "FAUP has been coordinating, since 2021, the work leading to the candidacy for the inscription of a set of works by Álvaro Siza on the UNESCO World Heritage List" and the "director of FAUP is responsible for submitting the candidacy", according to the same document. The candidacy partners are the University of Porto, University of Lisbon, Porto City Council, Matosinhos City Council, Lisbon City Council, Marco de Canavezes City Council, Caminha City Council and the Serralves Foundation.
Teresa Cunha Ferreira is the executive coordinator of the UNESCO Chair 'Heritage Cities and Landscapes'. Sustainable Management, Conservation, Planning and Design'. The work team includes teachers and researchers Ana Tostões, Carlos Machado, José Miguel Rodrigues and Rui Fernandes Póvoas; and consultants Bénédicte Gandini, Jörg Haspel, Spela Spanzel, Mariana Correia, Soraya Genin, Nuno Ribeiro Lopes, José Aguiar, Xavier Romão, Isabel Breda Vásquez, Isabel Coimbra. The diplomatic work is being coordinated by ambassador José Filipe Morais Cabral, president of the UNESCO National Commission.