Architecture as an Attitude

Gastão, 76 and Martim Cunha Ferreira, 50 are a father and son duo running Lisbon-based CF Arquitectos. They decided to join forces in 2017, bringing together decades of experience in both Portugal and Brazil.

With a lot in common, they also share their differences: “People joke about us because we argue a lot, and yes, we argue in a very intense and enthusiastic way”. The result is a rich portfolio of creative output ranging from 10m2 shopfronts to apartments, schools, religious spaces, parks, office buildings, hospitals, airports and cities.

Your website quotes an article written in the 1960’s by the Portuguese poet Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, where architecture is described in terms of love for space, light, and other people, and as a fair relationship between landscape and society; outside of this, she suggests, only bad architecture can exist. How do you see these ideas today, in relation to your own practice?

G: It isn’t about looking at architecture at a certain point in time, or as a business, but rather as the consequence of an attitude, which is mostly a personal and social one. At the end of the day, we’re providing a service that has a huge impact on people’s lives and on society.
M: We see architecture as a service, and we try to approach every project in the most professional way, serving the client more than ourselves, and designing the best possible solutions to the problems presented to us.

The article we discussed places a strong emphasis on landscape and on the risks of speculation, false traditionalism, excess, and architecture made for show. In the Portuguese context, where real estate dynamics often shape the built environment and reinforce social disparities, how do you position your practice?

G: I’d say quality in architecture has nothing to do with luxury. Luxury is something you add to architecture, whether it’s good or not. One thing I like about a certain architecture in Brazil is that it’s very high-quality, made with simple materials and basically working with light, space, and design.
M: Today, architecture is becoming a luxury: it takes time, money, effort, and it’s not accessible to everyone. But luxury isn’t part of the essence of architecture or of beauty. Sophia writes that “beauty is a necessity, a principle of education and joy”.

“At the end of the day, we’re providing a service that has a huge impact on people’s lives and on society.”