José Castro Caldas (b. April 29, 1981)
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This website serves as a record of my journey, with architecture as a guiding thread, allowing me to explore other fields and interests, such as travel and cinema. I graduated in 2007, during a period marked by economic crisis, which shaped the early stages of my professional path. I worked in Portugal for about three years before heading to Argentina with the Inov-Art Scholarship in 2010.
Since then, I have embarked on transformative experiences: traveling across South America, living in the Amazon, initiating the in situ laboratories in partnership with UAL, and undertaking an extended journey through Southeast Asia. Upon returning to Portugal, I delved into the intersection between architecture and carpentry—a recurring theme at the time—developing projects ranging from furniture pieces to apartment renovations. These works share a common idea: “furniture” can play a structural role in organizing space, adapting to and complementing it.
This process culminated in my own home, where I took designs from concept to execution. However, I acknowledge that the limits of my physical and manual skills constrain the scope of what I aim to explore as a result: “the gesture where the architect executes the thought.”
Additionally, I share texts and essays written over the years, records that reflect specific interests and moments in time, as well as interviews and features I have participated in.
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Main milestones:
– 2024: Began a PhD in Contemporary Architecture at the Department of Architecture, UAL.
– 2020: Started working independently as an architect.
– 2015-2020: Collaborated with the FURO office.
– 2016: Tutor for the in situ 5 laboratory, in collaboration with Gonçalo Pacheco and Sérgio Silva.
– 2013: Returned to Portugal after travels through South America and Southeast Asia, including sustainability projects and the film “RUTZ – Global Generation Travel“.
– 2011-2013: Projects at the Rio Negro Sustainable Development Reserve, supported by the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation.
– 2010-2011: Collaborated with the NGO “Un Techo para mi País” and with Adamo-Faiden studio in Buenos Aires (Inov-Art Scholarship).
– 2007: Graduated in Architecture from the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa.
josecastrocaldas@gmail.com
+351 914290433
