Raúl Hestnes Ferreira

Raúl Hestnes Ferreira (1931-2018), son of the poet and writer José Gomes Ferreira and the Norwegian Ingrid Hestnes, was born in Lisbon. He grew up in a family environment in which figures from the literary and artistic milieu were frequent visits, including the architect Keil do Amaral, who would become decisive in the choice of his future as an architect. He graduated in Architecture from ESBAL [School of Fine Arts of Lisbon] (1961), after a stint at ESBAP [School of Fine Arts of Lisbon], and obtained a Master’s degree in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania (1963) on a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Still as a student, he collaborated in offices in Porto (1955-58) and in Helsinki (1957-58). In the USA, he collaborated with Louis Kahn, in Philadelphia (1963-65), and was the architect responsible for the project of the Main Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh. These training experiences would be reflected in his future architectural language. Back in Portugal, he collaborated with various public entities, namely with the Municipal Councils of Almada (1960-62); Lisbon, in its Technical Housing Office (1965-68) and Urbanization Services Directorate (1970-71); Beja (1976-86); and with the General Directorate of School Construction (1970-80). In 1969 he established his office at Villa Sousa, in Lisbon’s Largo da Graça, and developed architecture and urban planning projects. From his vast and solid work, whose recognizable singularity stems from the search for universality, the origins of western architectural culture and the models of Roman architecture, the following stand out: House in Albarraque (1960), Youth and Culture House in Beja (1975), the Secondary School of Benfica (1976), the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon (1979), the new building of ISCTE [Lisbon University Institute] (1976-91) and the Library of Marvila (2012). Hestnes Ferreira received several national awards and distinctions throughout his career: the National Architecture and Urbanism Prize (1982) from the Portuguese Section of the International Association of Art Critics; a Honorable Mention from the Valmor Prize (1982 and 1993); the Valmor Prize (2002); a Honorary Doctor from the University of Coimbra (2007); a honorary member from the Order of Architects (2010); a Medal of Merit from the University of Lisbon (2011), among others. In addition to his professional practice, Hestnes Ferreira played a significant role in the dissemination and teaching of Architecture in Portugal, at the Department of Architecture of ESBAL (1970-72), at the Course of Architecture of Cooperativa Árvore in Porto (1986-88), at the Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (1991-03), at the School of Technologies and Architecture of ISCTE (2001-03) and at the Department of Architecture of the University Lusófona of Lisbon (2010-17).