Francisco Freitas

Atelier RUA - Arquitectos

Atelier RUA is a group of architects with experience in Portugal, the Netherlands and Switzerland. It was founded in Lisbon in 2006, where it develops its activity in the fields of architecture, urban planning and design. Its work has resulted in different projects ranging from housing, services, and rehabilitation, to the creation of exhibition spaces and architecture communication, often collaborating with other offices in these domains. In the last years, it has dedicated a special attention to rehabilitation, having built a "know-how" based upon the respect for the preexisting building, yet never diverging from its contemporary identity, proposing a serene coexistence between these two entities. RUA has extended its work to several countries, such as Spain, São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola, Mozambique, Chile and Brazil, in an internationalisation effort to bring new perspectives from other cultures and realities into its projects. When conceiving architecture, RUA is a horizontal structure based upon the shared responsibility of its members balancing between individual freedom and a coherent whole.