Happy Birthday Eduardo Souto de Moura!

Today, July 25th, is Eduardo Souto de Moura’s 61st birthday! With over 60 buildings designed worldwide, Souto de Moura is known for his thoughtful use of colors and materials. Although often described as a “Miesian” architect, de Moura provides local and original interpretations of Mies van Der Rohe’s modernist style.

Born in Porto, Souto de Moura enrolled at the School of Fine Arts in Porto, studying sculpture and later transferring to architecture at the University of Porto – a decision credited to a meeting with the artist Donald Judd. While still a student, Souto de Moura interned in the studio of Álvaro Siza, where he continued to work for five years until starting his own practice in 1980, on Siza’s advice. Although his first major commission was the Cultural Center of Porto, his early career included mostly private homes. Later, de Moura began to be commissioned for larger public buildings such as the the Braga Municipal Stadium (2004), the Burgo Tower (2007), and the Casa das Histórias Paula Rego (2008).

In 2011, he was awarded the Pritzker Prize; the jury praised de Moura for “his unique capacity to embrace reality while employing abstraction,” noting that de Moura’s architectural language “transforms physicality into the metaphysical.” Check out more by Eduardo Souto de Moura on ArchDaily: