About

Tiago Mota Saraiva is an architect, urbanist, and founding partner at Ateliermob and Working with the 99% co-op. Over the past two decades, his practice has been deeply engaged with participatory processes, community-led design, and cooperative housing in Portugal. He has advised municipalities and institutions on housing policy and is a vocal advocate for structural public support of collective forms of living. Tiago has taught, published, and curated extensively on architecture, urban politics and territory. Nowadays he is Invited Associated Professor at the Architecture School of Lisbon University.

Degree in Architecture from the Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade Técnica de Lisboa in 2000 and Erasmus Semester attendance at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid. Specialization in Architecture, Territory and Memory by the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologias da Universidade de Coimbra em 2004.
Comendador Joaquim Matias Quelhas dos Santos Award for the best-grade 1999/2000 Term at FAUTL (20/20 values ​​with a Basic School project in a former new suburb at Lisbon outskirts) and Honourable Mention at the SECIL Universities Award.
Member of the Ordem dos Arquitectos since 2001, having been part of its National Board of Directors (2003-07) where he has was National Treasurer for the last of the three years.
He started his work in the field of architecture and urbanism in 1995, having collaborated, in Lisbon, with; Paula Cabral, Segismundo Castello Branco and Fernando Ho, Arquitectos, a.s* (atelier de santos) Lda., Atelier do Chiado Arquitectos Lda. and Giulia de Appolonia Arquitecta. He also collaborated in Rome at Massimiliano Fuksas Studio and he was an external consultant for Studio Altieri SRL in Vicenza, Italy, in 2023.
He was correspondent in Lisbon for the Spanish magazine “Pasajes de Arquitectura y Crítica”, 1999-2002 and he had a weekly column in the newspaper i between 2011 and 2019 and in the newspaper Dia15 between 2018 and 2019. He was external advisor of Lisbon Municipality for the adoption of Agenda 21 for Culture (UCLG) and ISCTE-IUL General Council member for 2021-2025' term.
From February 2003 to December 2005 he was partner of extrastudio office.
He is currently managing partner at ateliermob – arquitetura, design e urbanismo lda., where he has been active since its start in 2005, administrator at the cooperative working with the 99% Crl, and a founding member of the local initiative cooperative Sou Largo Crl which has operated in Largo do Intendente, Quartel Cabeço da Bola, and currently in Jardins do Bombarda.
He is member of the editorial board of Le Monde Diplomatique - edição Portuguesa, Placemaking Europe Leader, and co-founder of the European Association of "city makers" re:Kreators. 
Since 2007 he started assuming a teaching role, first as Guest Assistant at the Universidade Moderna de Lisboa and after as Guest Assistant at the Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, in 2008. From then, he had participated in academic juries and orientated master thesis in several universities, national and abroad. 
Since 2019, he is Invited Assistant Professor at the Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade de Lisboa. In 2025 he became invited Associated Professor at the same university.

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Degree in Design (Interior Design specialization) at the Instituto de Artes Visuais, Design e Marketing (IADE) in 1998 and Degree in Architecture from the Degree in Design (Interior Design specialization) at the Instituto de Artes Visuais, Design e Marketing (IADE) in 1998. Degree in Architecture from the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa in 2004. Attendance of the 3rd year of the Curso Superior de Arquitectura no Instituto Politécnico de Milão. Held the 1st and 3rd Summer Seminars on Architecture and Urbanism at the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa and was co-supervisor of the VIII Summer Seminars on Architecture and Urbanism at the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa and tutor at the Noutra Costa workshop held at UAL in 2012.

She was awarded the SECIL Universidades 2004 prize and was awarded the prize for the best student of the Architecture course at the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa in 2004. Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (2006) and Visiting Critic (2010) from the University of Ryerson – Toronto, Canada.

Since 2000, she has collaborated in several architectural offices such as: Fernando Salvador and Margarida Grácio Nunes Arquitectos (2000), João Santa Rita (2000-2001), João Luís Carrilho da Graça (2002-2003) and Bárbara Delgado/Rogério Gonçalves ( 2003-2006). Responsible for the kidsmob® design project for children. It developed activities to raise children's awareness of architecture, design, city and citizenship issues in collaboration with the association Sou - Movimento e Arte, a Sou Largo Crl e Culturgest.

Chairwoman of the Board of the General Assembly of the Sou Largo Crl (desde 2012) e cooperatives (since 2012) and Trabalhar com os 99% Crl (2016).

Managing partner of Fábrica do Gelado and founding partner of ateliermob – Arquitetura, Design e Urbanismo lda, where she has been active since its formation.

An architect who graduated from the University of Beira Interior in 2015, with a master's thesis titled "Eiras from the past to the future. Re-inhabiting public space and rehabilitating the landscape."

Curator of the itinerant exhibition showcasing examples of pastoral art titled "Avó Maria."

Collaborated in Porto with the offices: URBAstudios, and occasionally with OpenField Creative Lab (2016), at Craft Architects (2017-2018), and ANARCHLAB (2019-2021).

Accumulates experience in projects of public and private initiative, of various scales and diverse typologies, participation in exhibitions, and project supervision.

Since 2021, she has been part of the team at the cooperative Trabalhar com os 99% and ateliermob.

Born in Portugal, and brought up in London. Completed his Bachelors in architecture at the University of Portsmouth (2012 - 2015) and Masters at Lunds Universitet (2018 - 2020), with the thesis title of “SPACE WARS - analysing architectural transgression as a tool for critique, resistance, and ultimately design”. He has worked at João Rapagão Arquitecto (2014) in Porto, ESA Architects (2015 - 2016) and SAM Architects (2017) in London, Maximilian Eisenköck Architektur in Vienna (2018 - 2019), and KWY.studio in Lisbon (2021).

Degree in Sociology from the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities) and Master's Degree in Urban Studies from the NOVA FCSH and ISCTE [current]. The academic path has been developed within the scope of interest in the complexities of social structures and human relationships. She has specialised knowledge in the field of ​​Urban Sociology. In 2007, she completed a technical course in Marketing, from the Brazilian Association of University Education, in Rio de Janeiro.

Since December 2023, she has been part of the cooperative Working with the 99% team.

Integrated Master's Degree in Architecture, from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Lisbon, in 2023, with the thesis "Alentejo House, evolutionary typology and new forms of living: a triad which contributions to a specification sheet for young housing." Bachelor's Degree in Stage Design from the School of Theater and Cinema, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon. Collaboration at the Quinto Andar Studio, of the architect and scenographer José M. Castanheira between 1999 and 2001. Freelance scenographer since 2002, professional practice developed in the context of audiovisual and theatrical production.

Degree in Architectural Studies [2018 - 2021] and Master's Degree in Integrated Architecture from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon (FA-UL) [2022 - 2024]. Enrollment in the Erasmus+ program at the Faculdad de Arquitectura Diseño y Urbanismo at Universidad de Buenos Aires (FADU-UBA) [2022]. Internship at the MEYER-GROHBRÜGGE architecture office, in Berlin [2022 - 2023].

Master of Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture of the Univesity of Lisbon (FAUL) since 2018. From 2017 to 2019, concluded the Complete Photography Course at Ar.Co - Centro de Arte e Comunicação Visual. Between 2020 and 2021, interned at the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT). In 2020 and 2021, enrolled at the ERASMUS+ exchange program at the Oslo School of Architecture (AHO). From 2022 to 2023, interned at the atelier Beer Merz, in Switzerland.

Bachelor's degree in Architectural Studies (2019-2022) and Master's degree in Architecture (2022-2025) from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon (FA ULisboa). Between 2021 and 2022, she joined the Office of Studies and Systems in Architecture and Urbanism Technologies (GestU) at FA ULisboa as a research assistant. Between 2022 and 2023, she participated in the ERASMUS+ program at the Faculty of Architecture of the Politecnico di Milano (PoliMi). In 2023, she joined the Institute for Housing and Urban Research (IBF – Institutet för bostads- och urbanforskning) at Uppsala University, Sweden, as a research trainee through the ERASMUS+ program. Since 2025, she has been working as a research assistant in the Socio-Territorial, Urban, and Local Action Studies Group (Gestual) at FA ULisboa. In 2022, she was shortlisted for the Luiz Conceição Architecture Award from the Instituto Superior Manuel Teixeira Gomes (ISMAT).