Born in Porto in 1952, this artist studied Architecture at the School of Fine Arts of Porto and at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto. During their student career, they collaborated with Álvaro Siza Vieira's studio from 1974 to 1979. In 1980, they completed their Bachelor's degree and began their career as an architect. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, they were invited to teach at various international faculties and schools of Architecture, such as the Faculty of Architecture of Paris-Belleville (1988), the Harvard and Dublin Schools of Architecture (1989), ETH Zurich (between 1990 and 1991), and the Lausanne School of Architecture (Guest Professor in 1994). Their works can be found both in Portugal and abroad. Notable projects include the Municipal Market and the Municipal Stadium of Braga (Estádio Axa), the Casa das Artes, the Casa do Cinema de Manoel de Oliveira, and the Burgo Building in Porto; the Ponte dell' Accademia in Venice, Italy; the Convent of Santa Maria do Bouro in Amares; the building of the Alfândega Nova (currently the Museum of Transport and Communications/Congress and Exhibition Center); the former Cadeia da Relação (converted into the Portuguese Center of Photography) in Porto; and territorial interventions in the Faixa Marginal de Matosinhos, the Porto Metro, and the Maia Municipal Square. In 2011, this artist became the second Portuguese architect, after Siza Vieira in 1992, to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, awarded since 1979 to the greatest names in world architecture.