The challenge of building within the built environment

(July 2025) | Catarina and Rita Almada Negreiros from the practice CAN RAN arquitectura will be the guest speakers at a conference to be held on Thursday 25 September at 11 a.m. in “The Square” in the Bologna Exhibition Centre as part of Cersaie’s “building, dwelling, thinking” cultural programme.

In their talk, the two Portuguese architects – renowned internationally for their innovative use of ceramic tiles as a key element of spatial transformation – will share their distinctive design vision and reflect on an architecture that unites aesthetic sensibility, functionality and a strong sense of place. One of their most acclaimed works is Sea Level at the Terreiro do Paço river station in Lisbon (2011), where a mosaic ceiling in shades of blue created using 10×10 cm ceramic tiles creates a metaphorical optical dialogue with the Tagus River.

In their practice, Catarina and Rita Almada Negreiros focus primarily on the regeneration of existing spaces through projects ranging from the renovation of public and private buildings to the redevelopment of high-density urban areas. Their work addresses the challenge of “building within the built environment”, approaching historical contexts with a contemporary sensibility and enhancing the value of the existing architectural heritage.

Throughout their careers, the two Portuguese architects have successfully taken part in numerous international and national competitions, garnering awards such as first prize for the Jardin des Délices in Lille, France, and second prize for the new headquarters of the Architecture Foundation in London.

Catarina Almada Negreiros (CAN) graduated in architecture from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Lisbon in 1996. She was an Erasmus scholar at the IUAV in Venice in 1995 and interned at the London-based studio MUF: ART / ARCHITECTURE between 1997 and 1999. She later earned a Master’s in Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in 2002, followed by a Master’s in Communication and Art from Universidade Nova de Lisboa in 2011.

Rita Almada Negreiros (RAN) graduated in architecture from the Lusíada University of Lisbon in 1994 and completed her professional training at Wilmotte & Associés in Paris (1994-1997), at BCQ Arquitectes in Barcelona (1997-1998) and at the studio of Jordi Castel (1998-1999).

After returning to Lisbon, Catarina and Rita Negreiros founded the Santa Catarina studios in 2000, followed by the firm CAN RAN arquitectura in 2002. Their practice demonstrates a remarkable agility across different scales of architectural and urban projects, adopting a working method that brings together multiple skills and sensibilities to generate spatial solutions rooted in a multidisciplinary synthesis.