Alvaro Siza Vieira. Chiesa di Santa Maria a Marco de Canavezes. Porto, Portogallo 1990-1997

Alvaro Siza Vieira. Chiesa di Santa Maria a Marco de Canavezes. Porto, Portogallo 1990-1997: The church Igreja de Santa Maria in Marco de Canaveses, built between 1994 and 1997, was designed by architect Álvaro Siza Vieira and is considered a paradigm of contemporary architecture. The church is part of the religious complex of Marco de Canaveses and was built to the design of Siza Vieira, in collaboration with the architect Rolando Torgo. It has a simple and austere appearance and is an important example of 20th century religious architecture. As a result, the church responds to the architectural tenets of spatial purity and geometric abstraction. The play of scales and volumes, the use of the natural course of the ground surface to create spaces, the light on the inside, the purity of the white color and the sound of flowing water in the granite basin, are elements that will surprise any visitor, whether religious or not.