Open lecture by Vítor Mestre e Sofia Aleixo

As part of the open lecture series of the course Principles of Intervention in the Built Environment in the Master's Degree in Building Rehabilitation, an open lecture will be held on December 6, by Victor Mestre, dedicated to the project of the Islamic Baths and the Manor House of Loulé (VMSA Arquitectos).

Vítor Mestre is an Architect from the Escola Superior de Belas Artes de Lisboa (1981), holds a Master's degree in Architectural and Landscape Heritage Recovery from the University of Évora (1998), a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Teoría y Práctica de la Rehabilitación Arquitectónica y Urbana from the University of Seville (2005), and a PhD in Patrimonies of Portuguese Influence from the University of Coimbra (2018), with the dissertation titled Vernacular Architecture of Goa. The House: Context and Types, which led to the book Vernacular Architecture of Goa, published by INCM.

An expert in Architectural Heritage and Vernacular Architecture, constructive techniques and typologies, and their conservation (since 1982), he is the author of the book Popular Architecture of Madeira (Argumentum, 2002), co-author of Popular Architecture of the Azores Archipelago (Ordem dos Arquitetos, 2nd ed. 2007), Traditional Mediterranean Architecture (Ecole d'Avignon/CAATEEB, 2002), and IAPXX - Survey on 20th-Century Portuguese Architecture (Ordem dos Arquitectos, 2005). He contributed to two volumes of Portuguese Heritage in the World: Architecture and Urbanism, under the direction of José Mattoso (Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 2010).

He has co-authored with Sofia Aleixo several scientific articles and books, including Heritage Continuity, an Ethical Link (Ordem dos Arquitectos, 2014), Victor Mestre: ao [per]correr [d]a vida (Casa da Cerca, 2013), Lar do Vale Formoso + Quarteirão Histórico de Santa Cruz (Uzina, 2012), Heritage: Between Time and Movement: Lyceu Passos Manuel (Uzina, 2011), and Rehabilitation of Time (Caleidoscópio, 2004).

Together with Sofia Aleixo, he founded VMSA Arquitectos in 1997, based in Lisbon, a studio that practices a cultural, social, and ethical approach to the heritage values of the built environment, seeking continuity in the development of projects through contemporary solutions across different scales of architecture, from details to urban environments.

VMSA Arquitectos provides consultancy and prepares preliminary reports for works or interventions in classified cultural assets, or those undergoing classification, of national, public, or municipal interest. The office has completed projects in Portugal and abroad, including residential, cultural, civic, religious, healthcare, educational, and leisure spaces.

Among the many awards received, the 2023 European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage – Europa Nostra Award in the Conservation of Heritage category stands out, awarded for the intervention at the Lyceu Passos Manuel, along with international and national awards for two architectural heritage interventions in the Algarve in 2023.

At VMSA Arquitectos, research activities in architecture (design and implementation, popular architecture, and cultural values of built heritage) are documented in various exhibitions and publications, participating in conferences in Portugal and abroad (Spain, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, France, Morocco, India, Slovenia, England, and the United States). The studio has been invited to present its research and/or professional practice in academic and professional settings, with the results published in several communications and articles.

The portfolio of VMSA Arquitectos includes rehabilitation and adaptation projects for existing buildings of heritage value, as well as new building designs, public space regeneration, exhibition design, and equipment design. Some of its recent projects include interventions in the recently awarded Islamic Baths of Loulé and the Loulé Music Conservatory, the Campo Maior Fortification, the Lyceu Passos Manuel in Lisbon, the Carlos Relvas Photography Studio in Golegã, and the implementation of an Intergenerational Center at Quinta Alegre in Lisbon.