List of figures

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Álvaro Siza

Philosophical Hermeneutics

A Swimming Pool, a Museum, a Church

The Book’s Approach

The Book’s Structure

CHAPTER ONE Understanding, Hermeneutics and Mimesis

Heidegger and Understanding as Being

Gadamer, Tradition and Horizon

Ricoeur and Understanding through Narrative

CHAPTER TWO Architecture as Hermeneutic Practice

The Conditions under which Interpretive Understanding is Possible: Prefiguration

Making Sense of Life through Building: Configuration

The Act of Inhabiting as an Act of Interpretation: Refiguration

CHAPTER THREE Álvaro Siza’s Hermeneutically Conscious Practice

Álvaro Siza’s Architectural Practice

The Conditions of Álvaro Siza’s Architectural Configuration

The Poetics of Álvaro Siza’s Architectural Configuration

CHAPTER FOUR Tidal Pool (Piscina das Marés), Leça da Palmeira

Humanising Space

Three Forms of Dialogue

Hermeneutic Situation

CHAPTER FIVE Galician Centre of Contemporary Art (Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea), Santiago de Compostela

Consciously Entering Dialogue

Three Forms of Dialogue

Hermeneutic Situation

CHAPTER SIX Santa Maria Church, Marco de Canaveses

Individual Contemplation

Communal Worship

Three Forms of Dialogue

Hermeneutic Situation

Conclusion

Natural Forces, the Human Condition and the Divine

The Hermeneutic Being’s Relationship to Architecture

An Exemplar of Hermeneutically Conscious Practice