LUÍS REBELO DE ANDRADE
Rafael Manzano Prize 2023
The 11th Rafael Manzano Prize for New Traditional Architecture has been awarded to Luis Rebelo de Andrade, a Portuguese architect with a long record in the design of newly built and refurbishment projects, always with a particular concern for integration with the identity of the local buildings and landscape. Thanks to his large knowledge of local materials, vernacular building traditions and each region’s history, his work blends harmoniously with its built and natural environment. In his professional practice he is notable for his commitment to the creation of an architecture that is not just functional but also reflects the essence and the less tangible values of the places where he works.
VIDEO Presenting Luís Rebelo and his work
Video made by Pablo Sevilla presenting the work of Luís Rebelo, for which he has been awarded the Rafael Manzano Prize 2023
Biography
Luís Rebelo de Andrade graduated in Architecture from the Lisbon Faculty of Fine Arts in 1986. Before definitively engaging in architecture he aspired to be a sculptor, and his passion for sculpture gave him a unique and distinctive understanding of architecture’s role in the natural and built environment. In 1989 he founded his own practice, and from early on his work achieved recognition in Portugal. Since then he has performed a large number of projects both in his country and abroad, with designs that have been recognised and honoured with awards on several occasions.
Among his many projects in Portugal we may highlight the Hotel Six Senses, at which over more than 30 years he has turned a former farmstead into an internationally prestigious hotel complex through the addition and transformation of various volumes connecting the original structures, and by embellishing and restoring the ensemble. Also noteworthy is Quinta do Pinho, where he has extensively recomposed and restored an old dwelling with the accretion of elements (stairs, porches and openings) and volumes in keeping with the local architectural language. Equally notable is his work at Hotel Rural Casa dos Viscondes da Várzea, whose restoration has given a former winegrowers’ mansion a new life as a hotel.
All these projects in the Douro valley are exemplars of how to blend new traditional designs with existing constructions following local models and making use of natural materials from the environs. All of these projects are highly sensitive towards the environment of which they are part, to the extent that it is hard to distinguish between what already existed and what has been added, removed or transformed.
Moreover, among his extensive work in Lisbon, we may note projects such as the restoration of the Church of São José dos Carpinteiros, the refurbishment of the Falcarreira Palace or the renovation of his own studio, a former warehouse and winepress that has been exquisitely converted into a workspace and meeting place.
Images
**Click on the photos to see the entire gallery of each project
Hotel Six Senses, Samodães
Building in Rua do Ouro
Palacete Falcarreira, Lisbon
Quinta do Pinho
Quinta da Varzea
Church of Saint Joseph of the Carpenters, Lisbon
2023 RAFAEL MANZANO PRIZE CEREMONY
The Award Ceremony of the 2023 Rafael Manzano Prize to Luís Rebelo de Andrade and the 2023 Medal for Heritage Preservation to Antoni González was held on November 16 at the Portuguese Presidential Palace of the Portuguese Republic.
The event was chaired by Mr. Leopoldo Gil Cornet, President of the Traditional Building Cultures Foundation, Mr. Rafael Manzano, Mr. José Baganha, President of INTBAU Portugal, Avelino Oliveira, President of the Ordem dos Arquitectos and Alejandro García Hermida, Executive Director of the Traditional Building Cultures Foundation.
