Photography: do mal o menos
23 / 01 / 2026
Sérgio Antunes (Lisbon, 1977) and Sofia Reis Couto (Porto, 1980) think about and redesign the way we belong to a place.
The architect duo, who have been collaborating since college days – when they created the Kaputt! collective – renewed their intentions and dynamics with the founding of Aurora Arquitectos in 2010.
At that time, the exponential growth of urban regeneration became the studio's focus, as a result of opportunities and the then growing interest in historical building types. Having become masters of a poetic fabric consisting of materiality and memory, they question the established order in order to reinvent new identities and other ways of feeling and relating to buildings.
More than just the functionality of the programme, they prioritise the symbolism of rituals imbued with the meaning of home, temple and city. Each body in a space is a unique narrative that emerges.
Alexandra Novo: You've known each other since university and your days with the Kaputt! collective. What has made your partnership endure over the years? What are the biggest challenges you've faced together?
Aurora Arquitectos: Great complicity, complementarity and similarity in the way we ask questions and design answers. The first challenge was to create and maintain the studio when there was no work, then to grow and continue to devote attention to each project as if it were the only and last one.
A.N. What is the meaning and intention behind choosing the name Aurora for your studio?
A.A. We came from a studio called Kaputt!, which also came to an end during the toughest moments of the crisis in Portugal. We wanted to keep a collective name, which was separate from our own names. Aurora is the moment of twilight, the beginning of everything, the moment when anything is possible.
A.N. What aspects of this area do you consider converge on and deepen your language and philosophy?
A.A. The most interesting thing is the dialogue between different times. This dialogue is not only linguistic, but also typological. What we want from a building from a symbolic, constructive, thermal or social point of view is completely different from what we wanted 50, 100 or 300 years ago.
At that time, the exponential growth of urban regeneration became the studio's focus, as a result of opportunities and the then growing interest in historical building types. Having become masters of a poetic fabric consisting of materiality and memory, they question the established order in order to reinvent new identities and other ways of feeling and relating to buildings.
More than just the functionality of the programme, they prioritise the symbolism of rituals imbued with the meaning of home, temple and city. Each body in a space is a unique narrative that emerges.
Alexandra Novo: You've known each other since university and your days with the Kaputt! collective. What has made your partnership endure over the years? What are the biggest challenges you've faced together?
Aurora Arquitectos: Great complicity, complementarity and similarity in the way we ask questions and design answers. The first challenge was to create and maintain the studio when there was no work, then to grow and continue to devote attention to each project as if it were the only and last one.
A.N. What is the meaning and intention behind choosing the name Aurora for your studio?
A.A. We came from a studio called Kaputt!, which also came to an end during the toughest moments of the crisis in Portugal. We wanted to keep a collective name, which was separate from our own names. Aurora is the moment of twilight, the beginning of everything, the moment when anything is possible.
A.N. What aspects of this area do you consider converge on and deepen your language and philosophy?
A.A. The most interesting thing is the dialogue between different times. This dialogue is not only linguistic, but also typological. What we want from a building from a symbolic, constructive, thermal or social point of view is completely different from what we wanted 50, 100 or 300 years ago.
A.N. What essential questions in your protocol do the Edifício Rosa and Edifício Mostarda projects answer?
A.A. These are two very particular projects co-authored with the Furo studio. The Edifício Rosa is Pombaline and conceals, behind a regular façade, a rich and diverse interior, which is the outcome of successive alterations. The question was: ‘How can we enhance and expand this interior diversity?’ The Edifício Mostarda, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. Municipal regulations prevent buildings in this location from having a style similar to Pombaline architecture. The question was: ‘How, then, can we create a building that respects the Pombaline context but is anti-Pombaline in its architectural style?’
A.A. These are two very particular projects co-authored with the Furo studio. The Edifício Rosa is Pombaline and conceals, behind a regular façade, a rich and diverse interior, which is the outcome of successive alterations. The question was: ‘How can we enhance and expand this interior diversity?’ The Edifício Mostarda, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. Municipal regulations prevent buildings in this location from having a style similar to Pombaline architecture. The question was: ‘How, then, can we create a building that respects the Pombaline context but is anti-Pombaline in its architectural style?’
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