DE LA ESPADA VOLUME IV 87
The Lisbon-based architect’s work is sensitive
to time and place, embracing nature and heritage
while offering a thoughtful purity of form in pro-
jects that are at once functional and awe-inspir-
ing. His architectural projects have earned him
numerous accolades including the Valmor Prize,
Pessoa Prize, and a nomination for the Mies van
der Rohe Award. Images and discussions of his ar-
chitecture can be found in the first three volumes
of the De La Espada Lookbook.
Aires Mateus’ approach to his furniture collec-
tion is in line with his approach to his archi-
tectural projects: “Our central point in all of
the projects is the way that people are going to
live. It’s always about this idea of how people
could feel in these spaces more than, let’s say,
image. So it’s also the way you touch, the colour,
the smell, the memories that you can achieve and
the common memories that we all have about this
material,” he explains. With an emphasis on func-
tion and the sensory response, the product line
reflects a universal heritage that is fixed without
time or place. The furniture is designed to be
passed from generation to generation, earning the
value of time and marks of memories past.
