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open a security door in the wall.” It was a big
wall, very abstract, like a sculpture, and the
door would make it very domestic. Siza then
designed a door in five minutes, and that is
how it was done later. I kept looking at the
door using my hand to blind it, and I realized
it was actually better with the door. It became
a real window, which had to do with life, not
the gesture of an artist’s installation.
JP: For me a window is the eye of the build-
ing, and the door is the mouth. They are es-
sential to the physiognomy of the body, of the
building. In my own design I have never been
able to understand the door as a given thing.
I always start with the question of what the
door is. There is always a distinct context
and a purpose for the door, and every door is
fundamentally different.
ESM: That is the real problem of architec-
ture. When I was in Paris, I had lots of dis-
cussions with Aldo Rossi about the windows.
He would tell me: “Eduardo, you always have
to think about the practical issues: from the
inside to the outside, from the outside to the
inside.” It is like designing a portrait.
JP: You began your career in Porto and now
you work in many parts of the world. Do you
feel comfortable working abroad?
ESM: I am very grateful to be working in
many countries, and it would not be right to
say that I do not like it, but I do prefer to work
in Porto. For me, the most important thing for
an architect today is to have time. To have
time to think, to change, to make models,
do sketches, go to the construction site on a
Saturday morning when nobody is there, take
pictures… I think it is like gastronomy: you
cannot go there in a rush. You have to enjoy it
quietly. This is why the quality of architecture
today is poor, because time is money, and cli-
ents ask for short deadlines, which is normal,
the problem is that architects accept this.
JP: Sigfried Giedion, in Space, Time and
Architecture, talks about how Finland is with
Alvar Aalto, the same way that Spain is with
