The title ‘SizaAtlas: Filling the Gaps for World Heritage’ reflects the project’s objectives: to create an Atlas of Álvaro Siza’s works and to fill gaps in the World Heritage. It is inspired by the document ‘The World Heritage List: Filling the Gaps: An Action Plan for The Future’ (ICOMOS 2005), which supports the World Heritage Committee’s Global Strategy, that encourages State Parties to submit twentieth-century heritage nominations, to diversify the World Heritage List (UNESCO 1994). In response to this request, ICOMOS Portugal proposed a set of eighteen architectural works by Álvaro Siza for the World Heritage Tentative List, which was approved by UNESCO in 2017. ICOMOS Portugal continued promoting the initiative and closely followed the preparation and submission of the final dossier for the World Heritage List nomination. In 2018, Álvaro Siza’s works started being studied in the academic context of two curricular units of the Integrated Master of Architecture at ISCTE: ‘Construction Systems’ and ‘Conservation and Rehabilitation of Buildings’. With the collaboration of DGPC — Direcção Geral do Património Cultural (Directorate- General for Cultural Heritage) we developed inventory sheets of Siza’s works, using the same methodology and criteria established in the Architectural Heritage Inventory System, SIPA (IHRU, IGESPAR, 2010). The inventory was the first step to deepen our knowledge and the best way to clarify the extent, internationalisation and diversity of Álvaro Siza’s architectural works. In 2019, the project’s three partnered organisations — ISCTE, FAUP and UPT — submitted the SizaAtlas proposal to the call for projects for ‘Scientific Research and Technological Development in the Field of Álvaro Siza’s Architecture – 2019’, with the aim of developing what was already at an embryonic stage. At the time, 75 Portuguese works were inventoried. As the project was only approved in 2021 by FCT, the two-year delay ended up altering the work plan. Instead of preceding the application for the World Heritage List coordinated by FAUP, both ran in parallel, which benefited both.

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SizaAtlas Project,Framework and Methodology,Inventory of Architectural Works