Frederico Valsassina

Born in Lisbon in 1955. Architect by the Lisbon School of Fine Arts in June 1979. Collaborates with national and international studios before establishing his own practice in 1986. Numerous works published in Portugal and abroad. Working across the private and public sectors, the practice’s diverse portfolio includes celebrated residencial, education, cultural, workplace and civic projects. The diversity and constant change of scale brings the flexibility and adaptability to face the City needs and transformations. Also concerned in the environmental sustainability of the built environment, the practice has a grounded approach to embrace the quality of life. In 1995 he is invited by the Administration of the Expo Park to design a Zone of the Expo Vila, an intervention area within the Urban Plan of the EXPO98 International Fair. Recipient of an honorable mention of the 2003 Valmor Prize, for his Alcântara Rio Project. In 2007 he is awarded the IHH/RHU National Award and represents Portugal in Barcelona’s World Architecture Exposition. In 2009 he is selected for the IV ENOR Architecture Prize. He is also selected for the the Habitar Portugal 2006/2008 National Exposition of Architecture and is invited to be part of the jury for the International Architecture Competition, taking place at the University of Campinas in Brazil. Awarded for the Art’s Business and Hotel Center in Parque das Nações with the 2004 Valmor Prize. In 2009 he is invited by the president of Portugal’s Order of Architects to preside the jury for the SECIL Universities Architecture Award. In 2012 receives the Valmor Award Honorable Mention referring to the 2009 RTP/RDP Studios Project. In 2013, receives the Valmor Prize for the ETAR de Alcântara Project, done in collaboration with Manuel Aires Mateus and and João Ferreira Nunes. In 2014, also in collaboration with Manuel Aires Mateus, he receives the 2012 Honorable Mention for the 2012 rehabilitation of a residential building in the Rua Rosa Araújo. Has several notable buildings in the rehabilitation area, such as the Condes de Murça Palace, distinguished with the National Urban Rehabilitation Prize in 2015, or the Contador Mor Palace, distinguished with the same prize the following year. With the 2017 Herdade do Freixo Winery project he is awarded the CONSTRUIR 2017 Prize and an Honorable Mention at the FAD Awards. In 2018 this building is also awarded the ArchDaily Building of the Year, in the Industrial Architecture category. In the same year he is also awarded with the National Urban Rehabilitation Award for a Residential Building in Lisbon’s Av. da República (República 37). While embracing different scales, Frederico Valsassina Arquitetos, had developed larger projects such as the CUF Tejo Hospital, in Alcântara and a recent rehabilitation of Palacete Mendonça, - a Ventura Terra master work from the middle of the 19th century - an intervention placed on the vanishing point of the city - Alto do Parque Eduardo VII. The practice already started the path on Heritage preservation and identity, attending the values, and the historical assembly of Lisbon, recognizes the importance of maintaining and protecting the historical land layers of the city. While promoting the values of the past to generate the future premisses, the time passage evoques Heritage as the City memory.