Isay Weinfeld’s status as one of the most important and influential names in contemporary Brazilian architecture is indisputable. This is nothing new; those looking for proof can peruse the roll of awards and honours acquired over a career spanning over four and a half decades. His architectural presence around the world reflect his eclecticism, thoroughness and the open and pragmatic way he approaches his projects: “Each case is unique” could well be his motto.

The delicate metal structure still awaits its walls and roof. It consists only of the lines that shape its contours, standing discreetly among the lush green of the farm in Fornelo, northern Portugal. For the moment, it's just a bare skeleton of a Japanese-style tea house to be, where visitors can taste tea made from plants grown next door, not to mention the chance to understand the infinite subtleties of this drink, in a world made up of art and nature.

Priority is given to being an art centre.

They could have called it the Museum of Modern Art, or the Museum of Contemporary Art or the Centre for Contemporary Art, but they decided to call it Centro de Arte Moderna (CAM). This brings things that aren’t necessarily compatible, but are part of the institution’s DNA, which aims to function as a Kunsthalle.

Very early on, I realised that there were two fundamental things. The first was not belonging to “Pavlov’s pack”, and the second was being free. Also being as free as possible, even before I knew what it meant to be an artist. I only realised later that the closest to freedom involved being an artist, a pursuit that was also the most expressive.

The flâneur is a solitary strollere who wanders the city’s streets, guided only by his great curiosity. Idealised by literary greats such as Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin, as well as immortalised n Gustave Caillebotte’s impressionist paintings, this reader of cities, ever aware of the most subtle of matters, deciphered the modern city by imbibing it with an unhurriedness lent by his standing.