My first experience of a Siza building in the flesh was a visit to the Serralves Foundation in 2000, a couple ot years after it had been finished. I remember the blindingly bright day in Porto, and how the white walls of the long, low building shaded me as I wandered towards the entrance.rnThe most striking part of the building was the bright white courtyard just before the entrance, with a single orange tree standing alone. There is something almost too cool about this reference. Siza's Serralves Foundation sits on ground that used to be the vegetable garden and orchard of a grand house. A single tree remains, slightly forlorn, at best poignant, surrounded on three sides by white walls. On a normal summer's day in Porto, it's so white you can barely look at it.
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