Guided tour of Casa D'Abreu Neto (Álvaro Siza)

This house marks the beginning of the career of one of the most emblematic names in contemporary architecture. The visit will last one hour and tickets can be purchased through the Eventbrite platform.

Casa D'Abreu Neto is part of a residential complex known as ‘Quatro Casas’ (Four Houses), an early but already sophisticated essay by Siza on the revision of modernity. The project reveals clear influences from the Inquérito à Arquitectura Popular (mediated by Fernando Távora), Le Corbusier and the organic architecture of Alvar Aalto, references that would shape the architect's own language over the following decades.

Although far from the expressive maturity of later masterpieces, this house has a unique complexity. The deliberate duplication of the stairs, which reduces the usable space but enriches the spatial experience, anticipates discussions that Robert Venturi would later systematise in his influential book Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (1966).

One of the most emblematic elements is the kitchen, covered in clay-coloured ceramic tiles, which refers to Siza's manual touch and his initial fascination with Gaudí. The chimney, with its strong sculptural presence, evokes an architecture sensitive to memory and everyday rituals.

This guided tour is not only an opportunity to admire a private space of heritage significance; it is, above all, an invitation to immerse yourself in the early career of a master, where the traces of his brilliant future can already be glimpsed.