Manuel Graça Dias

Manuel Graça Dias (1953-2019), born in Lisbon, completed the degree in Architecture at ESBAL (1977) and started his practice with Manuel Vicente (1978-1981) in Macau. He became one of the major disseminators of Portuguese architecture. He was a professor at FAUTL [Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Lisbon], UAL [Autonomous University of Lisbon] and FAUP [Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto], where he obtained his doctorate in 2009 with the thesis Depois da cidade viária [After the city of roads]. In partnership with Egas José Vieira, he created the atelier CONTEMPORÂNEA in 1990. Manuel Graça Dias’ built works received awards in Almada, Braga, Chaves, Guimarães, Lisbon, Porto, Vila Real, Macau, Madrid, Seville and Frankfurt and have been object of publication in specialized press as well as shown (since 1978) in group or individual exhibitions. His way of designing and intervening in the urban landscape is well reflected, among many others, in the house he recovered in 1979 in the Lisbon’s Graça district, in association with António Marques Miguel (Valmor Honorable Mention, 1983), the Pavilion of Portugal at Expo’92 in Seville (1989) and the new headquarters of AAP [Association of Portuguese Architects]/Banhos de S. Paulo (currently, Order of Architects) in Lisbon (1991), both in association with Egas José Vieira; and the renowned Teatro de Almada [Theater of Almada] (Teatro Azul, 1998-2005), which he designed with Egas José Vieira and Gonçalo Afonso Dias. He brought the debate on Architecture to the public sphere with the writing of multiple articles on criticism and the dissemination of architecture in specialized newspapers and magazines (since 1978), books and conferences, both in Portugal and abroad, as well as with his radio and TV programs. He was awarded, together with Egas José Vieira, the AICA/Ministry of Culture (Architecture) Prize for his entire work in 1999, and the degree of Commander of the Order of Infante D. Henrique in 2006.