Two teams, two territories, one conviction: the future of architecture may lie in what is already beneath our feet. With the opening of Terra Crua, MAC/CCB is pleased to announce the winning projects of the 2026 Diogo Seixas Lopes Creative Grants.
In “CHÃO-FESTA,” architect Pedro Sequeira, archaeologist Mariana Castro, and PULSAR — Companhia do Corpo revive the “balho,” an Alentejo tradition of compacting earth through communal celebrations. Drawing on soils and construction debris collected from building sites across Lisbon, the project transforms the MAC/CCB Architecture Centre into a living laboratory of circular economy.
Meanwhile, “A House in Paradise” examines Elalab, in Guinea-Bissau, as an alternative model to the contemporary homogenisation of architectural form. Combining an earthen core with a porous outer skin made of mangrove wood and thatch, the project takes Joseph Rykwert’s On Adam’s House in Paradise as its point of departure.
Two proposals, one commitment: to research and contemporary creative practice as drivers of critical reflection on territory.
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CHÃO-FESTA
How can memory and the body shape the architecture of the future? “CHÃO-FESTA” revives the Portuguese tradition of compacting earth through communal celebrations known in the Alentejo as “balho,” transforming the MAC/CCB Architecture Centre into a living laboratory of circular economy.
Drawing on soils and debris collected from construction sites across Lisbon, architect Pedro Sequeira, archaeologist Mariana Castro, and PULSAR — Companhia do Corpo come together to reflect on the ground we walk upon, the ecology of materials, and the biography of earth.
The project unfolds in three stages: an open technical laboratory for experimenting with different soils and mixtures; a moment of soil compaction through rhythmic movement in the performance Canto do Chão; and finally, a real-time archaeological excavation that exposes an accumulated reflection on the continuity and materiality of earth across past, present, and future.
Biographies:
Pedro Sequeira (Lisbon, 1993) is a builder and architect committed to more responsible forms of construction, attentive to the cultural, social, and environmental contexts in which they take place. He studied Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon and at Istanbul Technical University. He later joined a University of Lisbon research group involved in the reconstruction of homes destroyed in the 2017 wildfires. After working with Cru atelier, he devoted himself to construction, specialising in earth and lime techniques and the rehabilitation of vernacular heritage. He also develops educational and experimental collaborations, notably with Oficinas do Convento (Portugal), BC Materials (Belgium), and Basehabitat (University of Arts Linz).
Mariana Castro, PhD, is a landscape archaeologist whose research focuses on the intersections between ecology, history, and community resilience in arid and resource-scarce environments. She holds a doctorate from the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University and completed an MPhil as an Ertegun Scholar at the University of Oxford. Her professional trajectory includes extensive fieldwork ranging from Egypt to Kazakhstan, supported by organisations including UNESCO, the American Philosophical Society, and the Ranieri Fund. Alongside her academic work, she is founder and president of Ação Floresta Viva, an association dedicated to ecological and community regeneration in the Serra da Estrela region.
PULSAR — Companhia do Corpo
Founded by Portuguese musician, composer, performer, and transdisciplinary artist Marco Santos, PULSAR — Companhia do Corpo emerged as a natural extension of more than two decades of international artistic practice. Exploring rhythm and the body as artistic, physical, and relational languages, the company has developed a distinctive approach grounded in rhythm-in-motion, bringing together music, dance, and performance. Through creative processes, training programmes, and community engagement, it investigates the relationships between Body, Space, and Time. Its work has been presented at venues including Casa da Música and Teatro Ibérico, among others, establishing an increasingly significant national and international presence.
A HOUSE IN PARADISE
Taking Joseph Rykwert’s On Adam’s House in Paradise as its starting point, this research project examines Elalab, in Guinea-Bissau, as a way of rethinking the idea of origins in architecture. The houses of Elalab—composed of an earthen core and a porous outer skin made of mangrove wood and thatch—generate a materiality that exceeds the logic of minimal shelter, fostering social interaction, environmental regulation, and playfulness in conditions of scarcity. Expanding Rykwert’s framework through the contributions of Kenneth Frampton, Juhani Pallasmaa, Rem Koolhaas, and Francis Kéré, the project proposes Elalab as a living laboratory for alternative models to the contemporary homogenisation of architectural form. Drawing on direct experience of the territory between 2014 and 2016, the MEL collective will undertake fieldwork, research, and public dissemination activities, bringing this knowledge into contemporary debate and opening up new conceptual frameworks for the discipline.
Biography:
MEL is a collective formed by Ana Baptista, Hugo Dourado, and Miguel Eufrásia. Ana Baptista graduated from FAUP, completed her Master’s degree at ETSAB in Barcelona, and was shortlisted for the Moira Gemmill Prize in 2022. Hugo Dourado graduated from ESAP and has extensive experience in architectural design between Porto and Barcelona. Miguel Eufrásia graduated from FAUP and is currently a PhD candidate at DARQ-FCTUC with an FCT scholarship, a researcher of Álvaro Siza’s archive at the CCA in Montreal, and a speaker at international conferences. The three share a background shaped by Iberian experience and by practices that value materiality and community engagement, questioning conventional understandings of the vernacular—an approach evident in projects developed in Portugal, Brazil, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique.
