Installation at the Vatican Pavilion
Architect Álvaro Siza Vieira was invited to create an installation in S. Giorgio as part of the Venice Biennale: the Vatican Pavilion. The proposed theme was “Encounter.”
The installation brings together 12 sculptures designed by Siza Vieira, depicting human figures in various gestures of approach: people greeting one another, exchanging greetings, and shaking hands.
Two of the sculptures are located at the entrance to the new Siza Wing at Livraria Lello.
In an era marked by so many missed connections, the exhibition stands as a reflection on the encounter between people—on closeness, dialogue, and the possibility of establishing a connection with others.
In a time of missed connections, this exhibition is about people coming together.
"A stimulating and at the same time frightening occasion, for the theme, the beauty of the intended space and the audacity to intervene in it"
Architect Siza Vieira began this project on the studio floor with a large sheet of paper, drawing the floor plan of the private rooms at a scale of 1:10. Days later, he drew a figure in the smame scale, thinking about the theme and the material to use.
Livraria Lello and the Livraria Lello Foundation were the main benefactors of this exhibition
The first image drawn and immediately realized, in cryptomeria from Azores, is joined eight more, built in the same way, and another two in marble, to signal the entrances starting from the gallery and the garden.
The Encounter in times of Divergence
A silent dialogue unfolds among Siza Vieira’s sculptures, one made up of gestures, closeness, and encounters.
Fundação Livraria Lello
Later, Siza Vieira’s sculptures were included in the exhibition People in Motion, presented at the Livraria Lello Foundation at the Leça do Balio Monastery.
People in Motion emerged as an ode to migration, the sense of belonging, and empathy, structured in three distinct acts.
It was in Act I that Encounter was presented, an exhibition that marked a highly anticipated return to Portugal following its run in Venice.
Livraria Lello
Two of the sculptures designed by Álvaro Siza Vieira are now on display on the façade of the Siza Wing, the newly opened extension of the Livraria Lello.
Placed next to the bookstore’s new entrance and exit, the two figures seem to engage in a silent dialogue with passersby.
Both welcome those who arrive and those who depart, in an encounter that can be interpreted as either a welcome or a farewell.