Lema Barros + Castelo Branco, Arquitectos

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[L-R] Cristina Castelo Branco and Manuel Lema Barros

[L-R] Cristina Castelo Branco and Manuel Lema Barros – © Lema Barros + Castelo Branco, Arquitectos

Published projects

Lines of Torres Vedras Monument and Interpretation Centre
The Lines of Torres Vedras Monument and Interpretation Centre project is a tribute to the defensive war against the French invasions that occurred 200 years...

Brief description

Founded in 1998 by Manuel Lema Barros (Oporto, 1968) and Cristina Castelo Branco (Lisbon, 1969), the lema barros + castelo branco Office has its roots in the believe that Architecture is for all in every places, accessible to everyone and not only a part of a metropolis expression of urbanity.

In this sense, after academic and professional passages in Oporto, London, Rome and Lisbon, they installed its office in the city of Torres Vedras, circa 40km north from Lisbon.

The creation of living places, the integration of the constructions in the landscape and in each specific place – luogho – as well as the research and technique innovation in construction are the generic principals of lema barros + castelo branco studio.

There is a clear intention in each project to interconnect the site values and the right construction techniques, being the always present the main reason of the project: the user. The existence of a conductor line along the different developed projects, being either of urban scale, single buildings or interiors, is given by this connection to each place and each program, being the differences a result each project own unique reality.

From spoon to city: the lema barros + castelo branco projects approach different themes and different scales, rediscovering in each one a new look over the ways of practicing architecture.

An omnipresent thought is the search of the truth and uniqueness in each building, in each object, in each site; for so, each project is developed and goes deep in all it´s design stages until it´s materialization.

From object design to public spaces...

Principals

Manuel Lema Barros
Cristina Castelo Branco

Key projects

2008 - Honour Mention Public Competition - Sports Superior School of Melgaço, Portugal
2006 - Premis FAD 2006 Finalist - Praça da República and Surrounding Spaces requalification, Torres Vedras, Barcelona, Spain
2005 - Municipal Architecture Prize of Torres Vedras - Single Family House Casal do Telhadouro, Portugal
2004 - 2nd Prize Concorso di Idee per la Riqualificazione del Lungomare di Roma, Ostia, Itália
2004 - 1st Prize Public Competition Pátio Alfazema - Programa Polis, Torres Vedras, Portugal
2001 - 1st Prize Public Competition - Torres Vedras Court of Law Refurbishing, Portugal
2000 - 3rd Prize Public Competition Praça da Republica do Bombarral, Portugal
1999 - 1st Prize Public Competition - Choupal Park and Surrounding Spaces requalification, Torres Vedras, Portugal

Industry affiliations

Ordem dos Arquitectos, Portugal

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