The ACB team draws on its academic training which it combines with its knowledge of natural processes that occur in gardens and outdoor areas – in the soil, in the water, as a reaction to light, within plants – as well as its experience with building materials, functionality and use, to design comfortable, safe locations.
Each project is seen as a work of art, born of artistic sensitivity and creative skill that listens and incorporates the Client’s wishes.
Current Team -
Cristina Castel-Branco
Victor Walker
António Sacchetti
Margarida Paes
Isabel Andrade
Raquel Carvalho
Raquel Santiago
Filipe Amaral
Collaborating with ACB since 1987 -
Teresa Andresen
Paulo Martins Barata
Paulo Flores
Isabel Vaz Pinto
Ana Luísa Soares
Francisco Castro Rego
Maria João Cabral
João Jorge
Miguel Coelho de Sousa
Maria Matos Silva
Vera Ramos
Sandra Mesquita
Francisca Pinto da Costa
Sónia Azambuja
João Albuquerque Carreiras
Inês Pimenta de Castro
Teresa Chambel
Cristina Castel-Branco
Cristina Castel-Branco graduated in Landscape Architecture from the ISA – the Higher Institute of Agronomy in 1985; was a Fulbright–ITT grant holder and completed her Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture at the University of Massachusetts in 1989 having studied at the Graduate School of Design of Harvard University in 1988. She completed her doctoral degree in the History of Garden Art by the ISA in 1993 with the same entity awarding her Aggregation status in 2006.
She began lecturing at the ISA in 1989 in the fields of the History of Art in Gardens and Vegetal Materials, before expanding her specialist teaching fields to include Landscape Ecology and the Restoration of Landscape Heritage. Currently, Cristina Castel-Branco lectures on the History and Theory of Landscape Architecture subjects on the graduate degree program and the Project and Landscape Criticism and the Cultural Landscape Restoration and Management subjects on the Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture. She chaired the ISA Landscape Architecture Board throughout ten non-consecutive years and sat on the ISA Board of Management from 1993 to 1995.
As a guest lecturer, she has taught post-graduate courses at universities in Madrid, Manchester and Tokyo.
In 1994, in association with Francisco Rego, she founded the Baeta Neves Centre of Applied Ecology at the ISA, which has since coordinated research in Landscape Architecture and Ecology Design.
In 2008-2009, in conjunction with Helena Freitas and Teresa Andresen, Cristina Castel-Branco launched the LINK - Doctoral Degree Program in Landscape Architecture and Urban Ecology, in partnership with the Technical University of Lisbon and the universities of Coimbra and Porto thereby launching the third Bologna cycle in this field. She ran the Lisbon Doctoral Degree Program during the 2009-2010 academic year.
Cristina Castel-Branco oversaw the restoration of the Ajuda Botanical Garden (1994-1997) and served as the garden’s director between 1997 and 2002. She was the lead Landscape Architectural consultant to EXPO’98 and project director of the Garcia de Orta Garden project on the EXPO’98 site.
She was elected a voting member of the International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes, ICOMOS, and World Heritage — UNESCO, in 2006 and has since contributed towards various cultural landscape evaluation missions on behalf of the world heritage list.
A founding member of the Portuguese Association of Historical Gardens and Sites, which Cristina Castel-Branco headed from 2003 to 2009; that, in conjunction with fellow founding members Ana Luísa Soares and Teresa Chambel, undertakes means of defending and promoting historical gardens in accordance with European policies and programs, such as EEA Grants, which financed the restoration of twelve gardens in Portugal between 2007 and 2010.
Elected vice-president of the Comité des Parcs et Jardins d’Europe and the representative of Portugal in 2009, Cristina Castel-Branco was also nominated a member of the international jury founded to select the best plants for the Domaine de Courson Journées dês Plantes within the framework of ornamental plants for Southern Europe, in 2011.
In 1989, she founded, in partnership with Teresa Andresen, the ACB — Arquitectura Paisagista atelier.
She actually leads the atelier with award winning performances.
She is the author of several books on Landscape Architecture history, art and theory in addition to a series of articles published in specialist journals in Europe, the United States of America and Japan.
Victor Walker
Margarida Paes
Born in Lisbon, 1982.
Journalism degree in 2008, from Universidade Lusófona, Lisbon.
Works in the administration and communication department of ACB since 1999.
Hobbies:
Literature, music, cinema, theater and travelling.
Isabel Andrade
Born in Lisbon, 1968.
Economy degree by Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon.
Works in the administration and management of ACB since 2001.
Raquel Carvalho
Born in Lisbon, 1979.
Landscape Architecture degree in 2005, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Lisbon.
Works in ACB since 2005.
Hobbies:
Jewelery, cinema and hiking.
Projects:
Venus Garden Restauration, Palácio Fronteira; Cortina arbórea, Palácio Fronteira; Restoration of the Fresh House and the SS’s Lake, Palácio Fronteira; Restoration of the Fresh House and the SS’s Lake, Palácio Fronteira; Estoril Private Garden; Atelier ACB, Lisboa; Quinta do Poço das Romeiras, Portimão; Loteamento da Tapada das Pereiras, Portalegre; Lote 22 – L5 Penínula - Lagoa Formosa, Herdade da Comporta; Lote 2 e 4 – L8 Ilha - Lagoa Formosa, Herdade da Comporta; Parque Alqueva Design Guidelines; Suites of the channel, Quinta das Lágrimas; Casa Grande, Quinta do Perú; Arborização e Enquadramento do Golfe, Quinta do Perú; Jardim do Lar D. Amélia, Abrantes; Vilarinhos, Loulé; Quinta das Machadas, Setúbal; Urban Park Requalification, Vila Franca de Xira; Urban Park, Olhão; Duque da Terceira Garden, Angra do Heroísmo; Marmoris Hotel, Vila Viçosa; Lowland Urban Park, Setúbal; Tree planting Goldra Park, Covilhã.
Raquel Santiago
Born in Lisbon, 1985.
Degree in Landscape Architecture in 2009, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Lisbon.
Works in ACB since 2010.
Hobbies:
Gastronomy, reading and hiking.
Projects:
Editorial assistant in the book "Water in Portuguese gardens" and in the special edition "Landscape architecture and urban ecology" of the Archinews magazine; Organization of the conference Public participation and multidisciplinary strategies; Urban Park, Olhão; Duque da Terceira Garden, Angra do Heroísmo; Marmoris Hotel, Vila Viçosa; Lowland Urban Park, Setúbal; Tree planting Goldra Park, Covilhã.
Filipe Amaral
Born in Lisbon, 1979.
Landscape Architecture degree in 2010, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Lisbon.
Works in ACB since 2012.
Hobbies:
Music, cinema, cooking, cycling and bodyboarding.
Projects:
Duque da Terceira Garden, Angra do Heroísmo; Marmoris Hotel, Vila Viçosa; Lowland Urban Park, Setúbal.