With 520 pages and more than 1200 illustrations, this book recounts and documents the work of one of the most famous and original of contemporary architects. Souto de Moura’s buildings tend towards rigour but not severity; the allure of fashions and the frivolous are alien to him. Underlying his work is a curious culture. Like the truly cultivated architects of the past, he works in the awareness that architecture, like any craft, can assume the task of intervening in the reality of life, of transforming our world and what time has given us, only if its first purpose is to understand its constituent limits.

This book is the most comprehensive instrument available to those wishing to learn about Souto de Moura’s work. It was written after the architect’s whole archive, now deposited at the Casa da Arquitectura in Porto, was opened to the public and scholars. For this reason much of its extensive illustrative material is previously unpublished.

Eduardo Souto de Moura (Porto, 1952) trained in the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning of Porto, where he has his practice. His work has received major international awards, including the Leone d’Oro at the Venice Biennale (2018), the Pritzker Prize (2011) and the Heinrich Tessenow Medal (1998). His most famous works include: the Stone Chapel for the Vatican Pavilion at the Architecture Biennale 2018; the Foz Tua hydroelectric power station (Portugal, 2017); recovery of the Convent Das Bernardas in Taviera (Portugal, 2012); the “Uitzicht” crematorium at Kortrijk (Belgium, 2011); Miguel Torga Cultural Centre at Sabrosa (Portugal, 2011); Casa das Historias Paula Rego at Cascais (Portugal, 2009); Stadium si Braga (Portugal, 2003); Casa do Cinema Manoel de Oliveira in Porto (Portugal, 2002); Metro Stations, Porto (Portugal, 1997 and later); Braga Market (1984 and later); Casa das Artes in Porto (1984).