Townhouses by famous architects. The Siza’s project with DWG drawings and 3D BIM models ready for download
Townhouses (terraced houses in the U.K.) by famous architects with works description, floor plans, dwg drawings and 3D BIM models. The Malagueira district project by Alvaro Siza
In previous articles we have defined remarkable aspects of terraced houses by analyzing architect Mies Van der Rohe’s project in Lafayette Park. In this follow up article we cover the same topic, this time focusing on one of Alvaro Siza’s works, the project of Malagueira district in Evora, Portugal.
Read also:
- “Townhouses: definition and characteristics”
- “Classical and modern townhouses. The Lafayette Park project by Mies Van der Rohe”
The article will include a brief descriptive analysis of projects together with 3D BIM models and floor plan DWGs, isometric, elevation and sections views available for download.
Specifically, in this focus:
- 3D BIM model to download
- Townhouses famous projects: the Malagueira district project by Alvaro Siza in Evora
- Malagueira district townhouses: work description with floor plan DWGs, isometric, elevation and section views
3D BIM model to download
Following the editorial line that we have built, the 3D BIM model of the terraced houses project being analyzed is made available for download in .edf file format. From these models you can easily and automatically get all the project drawings (floor plans, elevations, sections, etc.).
Download the Townhouses 3D BIM model (.edf file) ispired by the Malagueira district

Detail of Malagueira District in Evora, by Alvaro Siza – model reproduced by Edificius software
Click here to download Edificius, the architectural design BIM software
Townhouses famous projects: the Malagueira district in Evora, by Alvaro Siza
The Portuguese architect Álvaro Joaquim de Melo Siza Vieira was born in 1933 near Porto. After graduating from the School of Fine Arts in Porto, he started a brief collaboration with Fernando Tavora, one of the leading exponents of the School of Porto, then he opened his own studio in Porto, where he is still active.
Siza has been been a Visiting Professor at l’Ècole Polythéchnique in Lausanne, the University of Pennsylvania, the Los Andes University in Bogotà and at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He currently teaches at the Architecture Faculty of the University of Porto.
His concept of architecture is oriented towards traditional techniques and materials recovery and, above all, the introduction of breaking elements and apparently contradictory geometries confering an idea of modernism to his works. In his words:
Landscape is whatever exists in a person’s visual field
Among his numerous projects:
- the Higher Education Institute in Setúbal;
- the new Porto School of Architecture;
- the Aveiro University Library;
- the Museum of Modern Art in Porto;
- the Portugal Pavilion for the 1998 EXPO and the Portugal Pavilion in Hannover 2000 (in collaboration with architect Souto de Moura);
- the Schilderswijk recovery plan in the Netherlands;
- the Municipio station of Naples metro line, together with the redevelopment of its entire square with same name;
- 1200 houses in the Malagueira barrios in Evora, which is considered an important example of terraced house project.
The Malagueira district townhouses: the work description
The project of the new Malagueira district develops on the west side of the historical center of the city of Evora.
The inspiring principles beyond his work are:
- the search for a relationship with historical-naturalistic traces and with the pre-existing illegal constructions
- the involvement of low-income citizens in dense urban conditions.
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![]() Malagueira District by Alvaro Siza – module typology of ground floor plan |
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Download here the floor plan DWG of a module typology |
Download here all the floor plans DWGs in .zip format of the different typologies of townhouses present whithin the project |
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Relationship with the historical centre
Physical relationships
The road network is articulated in three roads that connect the historic center to the district. The Evora-Lisbon national road delimits the south side, Calle de las piscinas runs along the north side while the central road is the extension of the street that already structured the clandestine neighborhood of Nostra Senhora da Gloria, thus obtaining a direct connection with the historic center and creating a connection with the heterogeneous nature of the preexisting urban area.
Visual relationships
The large central open space and, the low-rise residential buildings adjusting to the morphology of the terrain are the strategies that allowed the direct visual relationship with the historic center.
Historical relationship
The ancient aqueduct of the city of Evora is explicitly referred in Siza’s project as “Conducta” as well as the houses leaning towards the aqueduct.
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![]() Malagueira District by Alvaro Siza – section B:B |
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Download the DWG of section B:B |
Download all the .zip format DWGs of the project modules sections |
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The apartments are arranged along the “conducta” (which connects the seperate residential clusters together and recalls the nearby aqueducts), a long concrete overhead viaduct supporting water, electricity, gas distribution and telephone and television networks placed at roof level.
The whole neighbourhood is designed with few simple building rules. The dwelling grid is built on a 8×12 mt plot, the concrete wall is 3,5 mt high while the dwelling’s height is 6 mt.
The building compounds are set slightly back from the road, which is also 6mt wide.
Download the DWG of the isometric view
Two different types of accommodation have been designed and built a surface of 90 m² for each type, named type A and type B.
Type A is characterized by a patio facing the street, and protected by a wall 1,50, 2,50 or 3,50 mt high.
In Type B the patio is facing inwards, without other main differences from type A.
The two-story building are articulated in 2 to 5 environments and a terrace.The kitchen is on the ground floor and facing the street, while the other rooms are facing the courtyard and the patio.
Doors, French windows with shutters, the chimney built on the façade, the tiled threshold step and the kitchen on the courtyard level are traditional typological elements.
The building construction system is very simple, with similar dwelling types and repetitive order of small units (for parts).

Malagueira district by Alvaro Siza – elevation view
Download all the townhouses elevation views DWGs in .zip format from the project
The rows of dwellings in Malagueira, although they are only 2-stories high, share a similar back-to-back section concept with each facing a street.
The public facilities present in the settlement include a covered square, a music school, a hotel, sheltered housing for the elderly, two social centers, a small open-air theater and a restaurant. The housing units adapt to the terrain, ensuring a linear houses grouping, with interstitial pedestrian streets.
Traditional material usage was necessary due to transportation costs, creation of new jobs and regional independence. Through this project Siza was able to show how quality homes can be built at a moderate price.
Click here to download Edificius, the architectural design BIM software
Download the Townhouses 3D BIM model (.edf file) ispired by the Malagueira district