Álvaro Siza in Detail - Vol. 2 - Hardcover - €66.90 - LAST COPIES

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Álvaro Siza in detail – Volume 2

The publication for architecture professionals

From architects for architects.

Author: Nuno Teixeira

A Book of Unparalleled Rigor

This is the second volume of the book that stands as the absolute technical reference on the work of Álvaro Siza.

Upon looking at the book, while being filmed, Siza remarked:

"Well, I am amazed at the quality with which this book is made in all aspects, the presentation, the design of the book, but also and above all the rigor with which it is done . Being a book of details, I have never seen one published with the rigour with which this one is (...). Truly, this book is a treasure. "

(Video available on the main page of this website)

Three projects with special characteristics, detailed to the highest standard.

Three housing projects are presented – each with distinct characteristics at various levels – explored primarily through details and construction processes. Explanatory photographic records were also produced, in the style that House Details customarily creates.

From a technical point of view, it is the most useful, most demanding, most detailed publication and the one that most clearly reveals Siza's unique genius . 
It is an absolutely essential book, both technically and methodologically, for understanding his way of thinking, his profound dedication, and his extraordinary talent.

A publication with unique characteristics

• Throughout his career, Siza has never provided a project in AutoCAD, in editable DWG format. For this book, for the first time, he supplied three complete ones.
• For the first time, House Details requested an architect’s permission to state explicitly that we had updated his technical drawings, in accordance with his on-site decisions. Siza generously allowed us to disclose that he "authorised us to make changes to the drawings so that they correspond to the constructed project (as built)." It's impossible for the House Details team of architects, to have a greater honor than this .
  

• We are deeply grateful to Siza for the immense trust he placed in our team (every team member is an architect, active professional with over 25 years of experience in architectural practice), and for having enriched us in so many ways throughout a process that lasted over three years and required many thousands of hours of work.

• 4052 hours of work over more than three years of production.
• Among many other episodes that took place during these three years, House Details sent almost half of each book for recycling – around 360,000 pages of Volume 1 and 32,000 pages of Volume 2 – because we identified very slight imperfections which, according to those around us, were almost imperceptible.
• Although everyone was against this decision, including the printing company that would have profited from the reprint, House Details chose to bear the costs in order to ensure a book worthy of the great Master Siza Vieira. Regardless of the additional effort, it was unthinkable to us that Siza, and the greatness of his work, could be compromised in even the smallest way.
• The first edition of the second volume was printed three times. Before even going on sale, the book was reprinted twice using a different type of ink, specially ordered by the publisher from Japan. The publisher’s profit margin is extremely narrow – also due to the 4,052 hours of work invested in producing both volumes – so we sincerely hope you will appreciate the final result.

A work done with admiration and gratitude

Once again, we express our deepest gratitude to Álvaro Siza for giving us everything we asked for, without refusing anything, for understanding us, for cooperating with us and welcoming us with friendship.

The two volumes of the book were produced with sacrifice, great joy, profound respect, and all the rigour humanly possible. Every conceivable effort was made. It was an exhausting process, both physically and mentally, due to the path we chose to follow.
We are profoundly grateful to Álvaro Siza for his immense generosity and for the privilege of bearing witness to his outstanding human and professional qualities.

A friendly hug for you, architect

The editor

Technical content of the two volumes

Volume 2: 352 pages, hardcover, 23 x 29 cm, black and white, with the highest quality offset printing available on the market (House Details is constantly searching for the best solutions) – ISBN: 9789895406876

Volume 1: 336 pages, hardcover, black and white, with the highest quality offset printing available on the market (House Details is constantly searching for the best solutions) – ISBN: 9789895406869

• Several hundred scaled construction details on:
  • Roofs (including skylights)
  • Exterior doors and windows
  • Interior doors
  • Interior walls
  • Exterior walls
  • Slabs
  • Stairs
• Hand drawings
• Explanatory photographs, in a graphic and editorial format, as is the tradition of House Details, illustrating Siza’s creative process so that his art may be understood.
• Plans, sections and elevations of the three architectural projects, indicating the exact location of all the construction details featured in the two volumes.
• Other photos
  

Also includes texts by:

• Juhani Pallasmaa
• Carlos Castanheira
• Peter Testa

And a long exclusive interview conducted by Nuno Teixeira with Álvaro Siza Vieira.

Projects covered:

House in Foz Velha

House in Baião

House in Maia

(Some of the awards received by Álvaro Siza include: the Pritzker Prize, the RIBA Gold Medal, the Alvar Aalto Foundation Gold Medal, the first Mies van der Rohe Award, the Praemium Imperiale, the UIA (International Union of Architects) Gold Medal, the Golden Lion of the Venice Architecture Biennale (twice), the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York, among many other prizes and distinctions.)

House Details, the publication for architectural professionals