From the notebook that Siza kept while in Peru in 1995. The prestigious Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza arrived in Peru in 1995 invited and accompanied by Frederick Cooper. Cusco, Arequipa, Trujillo and the Center of Lima amazed Siza, who impregnated his emotion and admiration for historical Peruvian architecture in a few dozen freehand drawings, illustrations that he made at the same time that he visited monuments and sanctuaries, and that later send the Peruvian architect. Thus, "Trip to Peru" is a careful publication that not only operates as a travel log and memories, but these images manifest themselves as poetic and philosophical statements, as explanations, metaphors and foundations that in their outline record the personal perspective of a man whose sensitivity operates as an indicator of the depth of contemporary world architecture. Days not to forget, in the company of Frederick Cooper, later baptized as Super Cooper, for the energy he gave to the trip and to the travelers: Andrea Soutinho, Gonzalo Benavides and me. Puruchuco, belonging and transformation of the landscape. And in a convent of artist nuns in Arequipa, Chan Chan, spaces concentrated on the essential after the excavations. Almost immaterial, the sea in the background. Cusco, a city that the Spanish occupied with violence using the stones of the Incas as objets trouvés, heavy, finely carved objects, with rounded edges where the edge of a knife cannot penetrate, Coca tea to prevent fainting. Huge stones with a surface cut by wisely geometrized accidents, narrow wedge stones between each two, platforms achieved with ingenuity and beauty, Llamas with sweet eyes. The last leg of this magical journey took us to Lima again, feverishly designed to the rhythm of the city. The black-covered notebook is filled with sketches made under the enchantment. Images of a trip not to forget, that feed my eyes and my mind. Finally, the airport and the desire to see more. Days not to forget, in the company of Frederick Cooper, later baptized as Super Cooper, for the energy he gave to the trip and to the travelers: Andrea Soutinho, Gonzalo Benavides and me. Puruchuco, belonging and transformation of the landscape. And in a convent of artistic nuns in Arequipa, Chan Chan, spaces concentrated on the essential after the excavations. Almost immaterial, the sea in the background. Cusco, a city that the Spanish occupied with violence using the stones of the Incas as objets trouvés, heavy, finely carved objects, with rounded edges where the edge of a knife cannot penetrate, Coca tea to prevent fainting. Huge stones with a surface cut by wisely geometrized accidents, narrow wedge stones between each two, platforms achieved with ingenuity and beauty, Llamas with sweet eyes. The last leg of this magical journey took us to Lima again, feverishly designed to the rhythm of the city. The black-covered notebook is filled with sketches made under the enchantment. Images of a trip not to forget, that feed my eyes and my mind. Finally, the airport and the desire to see more. Days not to forget, in the company of Frederick Cooper, later baptized as Super Cooper, for the energy he gave to the trip and to the travelers: Andrea Soutinho, Gonzalo Benavides and me. Puruchuco, belonging and transformation of the landscape. And in a convent of artistic nuns in Arequipa, Chan Chan, spaces concentrated on the essential after the excavations. Almost immaterial, the sea in the background. Cusco, a city that the Spanish occupied with violence using the stones of the Incas as objets trouvés, heavy, finely carved objects, with rounded edges where the edge of a knife cannot penetrate, Coca tea to prevent fainting. Huge stones with a surface cut by wisely geometrized accidents, narrow wedge stones between each two, platforms achieved with ingenuity and beauty, Llamas with sweet eyes. The last leg of this magical journey took us to Lima again, feverishly designed to the rhythm of the city. The black-covered notebook is filled with sketches made under the enchantment. Images of a trip not to forget, that feed my eyes and my mind. Finally, the airport and the desire to see more.
