Born in Coimbra in 1973, it is through his familiarity with the city, the school and the direct practice of the studio that a conscious, rigorous architecture emerges—deeply connected to the way people inhabit spaces.

Lúcia Rumor: To contextualise the roots of your practice, could you tell us a little about your background and how it has influenced your interest in architecture?
Jorge Teixeira Dias: I was born in Coimbra, into a family where science was often discussed and architecture rarely so: researchers, university professors, laboratories, books, tables. My ‘detour’ into the built space came through other routes: a few architecture magazines at my grandfather’s house and, above all, drawing. Drawing obliges us to look twice – first to see, and then to understand. Living in a city like Coimbra, where architecture is always present but without the pressure of a large metropolis, ended up shaping my way of being: observing, simplifying, looking again. Choosing architecture was the result of an accumulation of evidence. More than knowing how to draw, what interests me is thinking about people’s space and time within it.

L.R. What made you to choose Architecture at the University of Coimbra?
J.T.D. The choice was both rational and emotional. Rational because the school had been restructured by Fernando Távora and brought together professors from Porto and Lisbon, with distinct design cultures, creating a healthy confrontation of ideas. I studied with Hestnes Ferreira, Alexandre Alves Costa, Gonçalo Byrne, among others, which left deep marks on the way I see the discipline. It was also an emotional choice: I grew up walking through the University of Coimbra while accompanying my parents. There was a physical familiarity with those spaces, like returning to a place I already felt was mine.

L.R. You began your career with João Mendes Ribeiro as Studio and Project Coordinator. What was that experience like and how did it shape your practice?
J.T.D. It was a second school, but in ‘real time’. Through the position I held in the studio, I got experience of all the layers of the work: from drawing to accounting, client meetings and site supervision. This transversal experience gave me a very concrete understanding of what an architecture studio is: the visible side – the drawings, models, images – and the less romantic but essential side – the administrative, technical and relational infrastructure that sustains everything. I realised that architecture does not exist without this ‘B side’.