Álvaro Siza Vieira was born in Matosinhos in 1933.
He studied architecture between 1949 and 1955 at Escola Superior de Belas Artes do Porto (ESBAP). His first work was built in 1954.
He was a teacher at ESBAP between 1966 and 1969 and at Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto between 1976 and 2003.
He was Visiting Professor at École Polytechnic de Lausanne, Pennsylvania University, Los Andes School in Bogotá and at The Graduate School of Design of Harvard University as "Kenzo Tange Visiting Professor".
Siza Vieira works in the city of Porto.
He won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1992.
He was awarded the Royal Gold Medal assigned by the Royal Institute of British Architects, and delivered by the Queen Elizabeth II, in 2009.
He was awarded the Honoris Causa degree by Universidade Técnica de Lisboa in 2010.
In 2011 he was awarded the Douro Architecture Prize for the Quinta do Portal Cellar Building project.
