Desirée Pedro

Désirée Pedro was born in Pemba, Mozambique, in 1970. She earned a degree in Architecture from FAUP in 1996, the same year she co-founded the architecture studio Atelier do Corvo with architect Carlos Antunes. From 2008 to 2017, she taught Interior Design at the School of Art and Design (ESAD) in Matosinhos and, since 2013, has been a lecturer at the Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra (DARQ). She has been a Board member of the Círculo de Artes Plásticas of Coimbra since 2010 and is currently a PhD student in Contemporary Art at Colégio das Artes, University of Coimbra.

Atelier do Corvo’s most significant projects include the Centre for Contemporary Art, CAPC - Municipal House of Culture, Coimbra (1994), the Remodeling of the Chimico Laboratory, University of Coimbra (with João Mendes Ribeiro, 2001), the Rehabilitation of the Ancient Ceramics Society of Coimbra (with Luísa Bebiano Correia, 2003), the Remodeling and expansion of Pombal Secondary School (2008), Two Houses in Carvalhais (2005, 2006), the Remodeling of Miranda do Corvo Market (2009), the House in Gondramaz (2010), the Residential Home and Occupational Centre "O Cavalo Azul" - AFSD (Association of Families in Solidarity with Disability) (2010), the Portuguese representation at the 12th Venice Biennale of Architecture (2010), the Rehabilitation of the Bell Tower and Cistern of the Old Castle of Miranda do Corvo (2011), the Bento Menni Building Expansion, including the Administrative Building, the Chapel of Resurrection, and S. Bento Menni Square, Condeixa-a-Nova (2014), and the Requalification of Yellow House – Talent’s School, Miranda do Corvo (2015).

She was awarded the AICA Prize (International Association of Art Critics) in 2020 for the Senso Gallery and the Bento Menni Building Expansion Project.