Siza's First Work
ACCOMMODATION | EVENTS & EXPERIENCES | VISITS
In 1954, a 21-year-old student designed this house in Matosinhos.
He was not yet an architect.
This is where it all begins.
"Siza before Siza"
Before the Pritzker Prize.
Before the celebrated works.
Before international recognition.
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A house.
A family.
A beginning.
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Only 55 years later would the project be formally signed by
Álvaro Siza Vieira — evoking that origin.
At the time, he was unable to do so.
28 May 1957
The house is inaugurated.
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It remains within the family.
Intact in its essence.
Preserved in its architectural authenticity.
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“Our Architect”
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It was during the construction of this house that an intimate name was born.
Between this family and that young architect, a bond of absolute trust was formed.
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They called him — and continue to call him —
“Our Architect”.
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They were the first.
A Living Legacy
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In 2025, the granddaughter of the first owners, Maria Manuel Neto, opens the house to the world.
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Not as a museum.
But as an experience.
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Casa d’Abreu Neto becomes a place to inhabit — where architecture, memory, and time coexist.
The Origin of a Thought
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To inhabit this house is to return to the starting point.
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It is to understand the genesis of an architectural idea.
It is to experience the beginning of a language that would come to shape contemporary architecture.
