The AIANY Cultural Facilities Committee presents its annual lecture on excellence in museum design, this year featuring Portuguese architect and educator Álvaro Siza.

Siza opened his practice in 1954 in Porto, beginning with four private houses. In 1966, he began teaching at the University Porto, and later at Graduate School of Design, Harvard University; the University of Pennsylvania; Los Andes University of Bogota; and the Ecole Polytechnique of Lausanne. In the 1970s, his work expanded to include several public housing projects, which brought him international attention and acclaim. Following this period, he completed several notable museum projects, namely the Galician Centre of Contemporary Art (1993) in Santiago de Compostela, Spain; the Museu Serralves (1997) in Porto; and the Iberê Camargo Museum (2008) in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Siza has been honored with the inaugural Mies van der Rohe Award for European Architecture, the Alvar Aalto Foundation Gold Medal, Prince of Wales Prize for Urban Design, and the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

For this event, Siza will focus on an individual project: the Ibere Camargo Museum in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He will revisit this award-winning project, providing a deep exploration of his process, the initial project research, and an analysis of the construction. Siza will take attendees on a journey from the initial design concepts to the final product in a way never heard before.

Speakers:
Álvaro Siza Vieira, architect

Moderator:
Hana Kassem, AIA, LEED AP, WELL AP, Principal, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

About the Speakers:

Álvaro Joaquim Melo Siza Vieira was born in Matosinhos (near Porto) in 1933. From 1949-55, he studied at the School of Architecture at the University of Porto, where he also taught from l966-69 and was appointed Professor of Construction in 1976. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the American Institute of Architects, the Académie d'Architecture de France, the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is also an Honorary Professor of Southeast University China and China Academy of Art and honorary partner of the Academy of Schools of Architecture and Urbanism of Portuguese language.

Hana Kassem, Principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, has more than 25 years of experience in the field of architecture. She began her carrier in the office of Alvaro Siza in Porto. Since joining KPF in 2001, she has led the design of a variety of academic, research, cultural, transportation, hospitality, and commercial mixed-use projects across the globe, with current work in Brazil, USA, France, the Philippines, and China. Her design philosophy lies in the idea that design is human-centric, experiential, and should enhance well-being and fulfill social needs, creating dynamic and stimulating environments. Some of the notable projects she has led with her colleagues include the Red Hook Houses Resiliency and Recovery project for NYCHA, awarded an AIA Urban Design Merit Award in 2017, as well as the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center in NYC, a LEED Gold building that was awarded the AIA NYS Excelsior Award in 2015 and SCUP Excellence Award in 2020.  

Kassem serves on the AIANY Board of Trustees and is Founding Chair for its annual Leaning Out | Women in Architecture panel. She also serves on the Van Alen Institute Executive Board of Trustees, where she initiated foundational thinking for the Neighborhoods Now project, which mobilized more than 150 architects to deploy their design skills in the service of neighborhoods in need during the Covid-19 pandemic. Kassem was appointed to serve on the Mayor’s Advisory Council for post Covid-19 reopening of NYC. She has taught at Parsons School of Constructed Environments for several years, formulating studio topics that focus on an experiential engagement with our environment, often focusing on marginalized communities; and will be teaching at the Yale School of Architecture this Fall. Kassem is co-editor of the book Architect d.b.a | On Re-defining the Roles of the Architect Today.

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