RISCO

RISCO is a Lisbon-based architecture and urban design studio led by Tomás Salgado, Nuno Lourenço, Carlos Cruz and Jorge Estriga.
Since 1984, we have worked on over two hundred projects. These have had a wide variety of end uses and many of them are finished and up and running. They include the Belém Centro Cultural, the public spaces at EXPO’98, Hospital da Luz and the Lumnia building, in Lisbon; the Antas urban project and the Dragon Stadium, in Porto; the new Ponta Delgada cruise ship terminal, in the Azores; the Sky buildings, in Luanda; and Football City, in Oeiras.
Team - We are organised around a team of eight architects who have been working together for over twenty years. The collective experience of these architects, with their different talents and interests, sets us apart and enables us to meet any challenge in the field of architecture, interior design and urban planning.
This highly experienced group is complemented by about twenty younger architects, whose creativity, energy and skill with new technologies is fundamental to the quality of our projects.
Solutions are developed “by multiple hands”, working in teams organised specifically for each project. This means that authorship is almost always shared.
How we work - We focus on understanding the site, the natural elements, the local culture and the resources that are available. Projects tend to be anchored in context and difficult to copy. What we take from one project to another is assimilated practice.
We like to listen and to base our choices on what we learn from the stakeholders and from the members of the team we have specifically assembled for each project. We like challenges and dynamic contexts and are in no way discouraged by obstacles.
Minimising the environmental impacts and energy consumption of buildings and urban planning is a permanent concern in every single phase of the project. We advocate innovation through simplicity, by making the most of natural systems and cycles - sun, wind and rain. We only propose technologically complex systems when we are sure the cost can be offset. We believe that the character of a city is inseparable from its various architectural expressions and the way these have sedimented over time. This is why our urban projects seek to create stimulating public spaces and durable infrastructures that foster the continuity of sites, whilst also accepting new ideas and contradictions.