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U.Porto Memory

University of Porto Famous Alumni

Alcino Soutinho

Alcino Soutinho 1930-2013 Architect and university teacher

Alcino Peixoto de Castro Soutinho was born in Vila Nova de Gaia on 6 November 1930.
In 1948, he joined the Sculpture course at the Porto School of Fine Arts, which he completed in 1957, the year he began practising as a freelance architect.

In 1959, he submitted a proposal for the Monument to the Calafates in collaboration with the sculptor Lagoa Henriques (1923-2009) and is fellow colleague Álvaro Siza Vieira (1933-), intended for the 1^st Extracurricular Exhibition of ESBAP students. However, this project never materialised.

In 1961, he interrupted his Professional activity temporarily to conduct research in Italy, on Museology, funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. At the same time, he worked for the Foundation of Welfare Funds until 1971, an institution for which he designed several social houses in northern Portugal.

His vast curriculum is marked by various professional experiences. He taught at the ESBAP and later at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto between 1972 and 1999 (when he retired, he was Associate Professor with a permanent appointment). He was an adviser to the CRUARB (Agency for the Urban Renewal of the Ribeira-Barredo Area), between 1993 and 1997; Consultant to the Board of the Lisbon Port for the Reorganisation of the Riverside Area between Algés and Matinha, between 1996 and 2002; he chaired the Portuguese Centre of Design (1998-2001), the General Meeting of the Cooperative Árvore (2003-2006) [artistic activities] and the Architects Association (1999-2002).

Alcino Soutinho is the author of various buildings, such as the Castelo do Prado, the Delfim Pereira da Costa Building, the Palácio da Enseada and the Quinta das Sedas, in Matosinhos, as well as various facilities, such as the Auditorium, the Florbela Espanca Library, the City Hall and the Torre Sinhá in Matosinhos; the Bolsa de Derivados of Porto, the Vila do Conde Marine Parade, housing complexes and single-family houses – belonging to José Grade, in Portimão; Pinto Sousa and Pina Vaz, both in Ofir; the house of Pedro Soares, in Afife; the house of Joaquim Matias, in Barreiro and he house of António Santos, in Porto.

The architect also designed the projects for museums and faculties. For example, the Neo-realism Museum in Vila Franca de Xira, the House-Museum Guerra Junqueiro, in Porto, the Cultural Centre of Alfândega da Fé, the Aveiro Museum, the Museum/Library Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, in Amarante, the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto and the faculties of Chemistry and Ceramics, in Aveiro.

As part of his academic and professional activities, he gave lectures, participated in debates and showed his art in exhibitions in Portugal and abroad. His work was published in books and in architecture magazines (Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, Germany and Italy) and he has been a member of jury panels in architecture and planning public competitions. Among these, is the competition for the Reading Room of the Municipal Library of Porto, the Redevelopment of the Tâmega River banks after the construction of the Torrão Dam, the Competition of Ideas for sanitary ware and equipment for Serralves Foundation, the refurbishment of Santa-Clara-a-Velha Church, in Coimbra, the remodelling of S. Paulo Baths for the new headquarters of the Association of Portuguese Architects, and the new premises of the North Regional Branch of the Association of Portuguese Architects, the new markets of Porto, for the Porto City Council, the competition for the Logotype of the North Region Entrepreneurial Branch of Vila Real, the competition for the residence of the Portuguese Ambassador in Brasília, the competition for the expansion of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto, the Constantino Nery Theatre, in Matosinhos, and the Cultural Centre of Gaia, in Vila Nova de Gaia.

Alcino Soutinho won the prize "Europa Nostra", from the International Federation of the Protection of Europe's Cultural and Natural Heritage for the Pousada de S. Diniz of Vila Nova de Cerveira (1982), and the AICA Award (1984), of the Portuguese Section of Art, with the Project Library-Museum Amadeo de Souza Cardoso and the premises of the City Council of Amarante.

Alcino Soutinho was awarded the Medal of Merit from the City Councils of Matosinhos (1988) and Vila Nova de Gaia (1992), the Commendation of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (1993), the tile of Honorary Citizen of the City Council of Matosinhos (2007) and the Medal of Cultural Merit from the Secretary of State for Culture (2013). He was a member of the Portuguese Association of Designers, of the Scientific Board of the School of Art and Design (ESAD), of the Scientific Committee of the Housing Journal (Italy), of the Advisory Committee for the awarding of specialization scholarships in Fine Arts, of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

He died in Porto on November 24, 2013, at the age of 83.
(Universidade Digital / Gestão de Informação, 2013)