The President of the Republic today expressed his sorrow at the death of Bartolomeu Costa Cabral, whom he described as “an outstanding figure in Portuguese architectural modernism”.
In an official statement, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa recalled that in 2022 he decorated Costa Cabral with the insignia of Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator.
“His work includes numerous buildings linked to education, from elementary school to universities, in Lisbon, Sintra, Tomar, Covilhã and Guimarães, as well as social housing, in collaboration with Teotónio Pereira and Nuno Portas,” recalls the head of state.
Marcelo points out that Costa Cabral, after completing his studies at ESBAL, “worked in the studio of Nuno Teotónio Pereira, with whom he designed, in the 1950s, the Bloco das Águas Livres, an iconic building in the city of Lisbon, and an example of a certain idea of an open city”.
“His peers praised him for his concern with the notion of the city, not a watertight unit, which perhaps explains why a commemorative exhibition in 2019 chose the beautiful expression ‘the ethics of things’ as its title,” he recalls.
Bartolomeu Costa Cabral died on Saturday, aged 95, in Lisbon.
His career also includes a significant trade union activity, having been a member of the board of the National Union of Architects and the board of the Portuguese section of the International Union of Architects.
Among Bartolomeu Costa Cabral’s main works, the Order also recalled the Castelo Primary School (Lisbon, 1960), the Quinta das Conchas metro station (1998-2002) and the Olivais social housing blocks (Lisbon, 1961, with Nuno Teotónio Pereira and Nuno Portas).
Bartolomeu Costa Cabral received several awards throughout his career, such as the Eugénio dos Santos prize in 1997 (with Nuno Teotónio Pereira for the refurbishment of the Taborda Theatre in Lisbon), the Raul Lino architecture prize in 1978 (for the CGD branch in Sintra), the honorable mention of the Valmor prize in 2009 (individual housing in Travessa da Oliveira, Lisbon), and was distinguished as a Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator (2022).
