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Risco is an architecture and urban design firm based in Lisbon and managed by Tomás Salgado, Nuno Lourenço, Carlos Cruz and Jorge Estriga.
Since 1984, we have carried out more than two hundred projects, for various purposes, many of which are built and in use, such as the Belém Cultural Centre, the Public Spaces for EXPO’98 and Luz Hospital, in Lisbon; the Antas Urban Project and Dragão Stadium, in Porto; the new Cruise Ship Terminal in Ponta Delgada, Azores; the Sky Buildings, in Luanda; and the Football City, in Oeiras.

Our Journey

Risco was founded in 1974, at the time as a graphic and industrial design firm. In 1984, Manuel Salgado purchased the company and gradually transformed it into an urban planning and architecture firm, which he led until 2007.
During those twenty three years, Manuel Salgado managed Risco in a way that was unusual in the Portuguese architectural scene at the time, encouraging teamwork throughout the entire project, assuming a role more of "maestro" than "soloist".
When he left the company to occupy a position as Councilman for the Municipality of Lisbon, Risco’s third lifecycle began effortlessly. A cycle in which leadership was taken on by the four architects who, since 1995, had been coordinating some of the firm’s most important projects.


The Team

The firm is organised around a team of eight architects who have worked together for more than twenty years, and which includes, aside from the four managers, Cristina Picoto, Lúcia Manso, Rute Gonçalves and João Almeida.
The collective experience of these architects, their diverse talents and interests, differentiates them and enables them to meet any challenge in the fields of architecture, interiors and urban design.
This more experienced group is complemented by approximately twenty younger architects, whose creativity, energy and ability to use new technologies is crucial to the quality of our projects.
Solutions are developed collaboratively, in teams organised specifically for each project, which means that authorship is almost always shared.


How we work

We strive to understand the site, the natural elements, the local culture and the available resources. Projects tend to be rooted in the context and are hard to duplicate. All we take from one project to another is the experience we have assimilated.
We like to listen and base our decisions on what we learn from the stakeholders and members of the teams we put together specifically for each project. We enjoy a challenge and thrive in dynamic contexts. We are not discouraged by obstacles. We have become accustomed to unstable processes, with multiple vested interests, where we strive to accommodate the expectations of all parties involved in the best manner possible.
We advocate innovation through simplicity, based on the use of natural systems and cycles – sun, wind, rain. Of course we are aware of the most technologically evolved systems, but we only advise using them when the costs are truly amortizable.
Minimising the environmental impacts and energy consumption caused by construction and urbanisation are constant concerns throughout every phase of the project. At each moment we select the best person for each task and, if we require specific know-how, we search outside the firm, in Portugal or abroad.
We believe that the character of cities is inextricable from the diverse architectural expressions and settlement over time. Therefore, in urban projects, we strive to create stimulating public spaces and lasting infrastructures that ensure the continuity of the sites, but can also accommodate new ideas and contradictions.