– Manuel Montenegro and Álvaro Siza

Pouco a pouco, quase sem dar por isso, o carvão começou a não partir, o papel a não manchar, o miolo de pão a manter a plasticidade, o fôlego a aumentar. E a confiança.

Slowly but steadily, unwittingly, the lead began to not break, paper to not stain, the bread crumb* to maintain plasticity, our stamina increasing. And our self-reliance.

– Álvaro Siza describing a collective learning experience in the drawing atelier of Isolino Vaz in the summer of 1949. Sketchbook 311: Holanda 2 – Jardins Paris – Fonte Taipa, August 1990. (CCA)

*‘Miolo de pão’ translates as ‘Bread Crumb’, as in the inside of a loaf of bread that you get when you remove the crust… which was (and is) used as an eraser for charcoal or graphite. I believe Crumb is the exact word, but because it is not so common-use, you can find ‘crust-less bread’ as a replacement in many texts… – Manuel Montenegro