About

Luis De Oliveira is the Co-founder and Managing Director of De La Espada. Embracing a collaborative design philosophy, De Oliveira advocates for the sharing of expertise and the exchange of cultures, friendships, and ideas. At De La Espada, in-house designers, engineers, and craftspeople work closely with international design partners including Neri&Hu, Luca Nichetto, Ilse Crawford and Anthony Guerree.

Armando Ribeiro, Founder & Creative Director of O Apartmento, brings a rich background to his role. With a foundation in museology and contemporary art, he spent over a decade as a buyer before dedicating the last 15 years to the field of communication. Armando, fueled by his passion for travel, keeps his suitcase perpetually packed and is ever-ready to embark on new adventures whenever the opportunity arises.

Sam Baron, globally renowned designer and founder of Sam Baron & Co, has received international awards and recently the prestigious "Remise des insignes de Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres". Collaborating with a team of young, creative minds, he integrates diverse skills to pursue a unique and challenging vision for his clients.

Joana Astolfi (b. Lisbon, 1975) is an architect, artist, and designer whose practice is rooted in storytelling through playful artifacts and the poetics of space. Drawing from a wide spectrum of everyday materials—miniatures, vintage toys, tools, diaries, and anonymous photographs—Astolfi constructs intimate, often whimsical narratives that blur the line between memory and imagination.

For Astolfi, life, art and architecture find their balance between beauty and playfulness, sophistication and irreverence, truth and fantasy. Her installations and artworks embrace craftsmanship, surprise and humor as creative tools, inviting viewers into layered environments where past and present coexist. Objects and spaces, for Astolfi, are not static— they are vessels of experience, emotion, and transformation.

Following twelve years living and working abroad, Astolfi founded Studio Astolfi in Lisbon, in 2007, a multidisciplinary atelier that now brings together a team of architects, artists, artisans, and designers. Together, they craft immersive spaces and experiences driven by narrative and material sensitivity.

Over the past twenty years, Astolfi has created artworks and interiors for a range of local and international brands, including Hermès, L’Oréal, L’Objet, Vitra, The Ritz Four Seasons and Torel Hotels. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is included in both private and public collections worldwide. Astolfi is a frequent guest speaker at local and international events, serves as a jury member in art and architecture competitions, sits on the curatorial board of Lisbon Design Week, and has received a series of awards in both the fields of art and interior design.

Toni Grilo is an established Designer & Art Director for several design brands, who since 2008 has run his own studio specialising in the creation of products, furniture, and scenography. In 2023, he produced Lisbon Design Week's inaugural public art installation.

Mircea Anghel is an internationally acclaimed artist and designer based in Portugal. His practice celebrates natural processes where every piece is made by hand, and that have either been salvaged from storms or responsibly sourced. Anghel is based in the Herdade da Barrosinha Alentejo region of Portugal.

Ana Lia Santos is a Designer, Professor and Researcher at FBAUL / CIEBA. She helped initiate the future of Lisbon Design Week with the LDW team. Serving as the Chief Designer at Deslink Design, she also established a new Design Laboratory in Restelo, Lisbon, named "ddlab", focusing on social and intervention design. Recently, she became a member of ADCE (Art Directors Club of Europe) and CCP (Clube da Criatividade de Portugal)

Marco Sousa Santos is the founder and director of Proto design and Experimenta Design. He has created several design projects and collections with national and foreign authors, contributing to the new “Vision” on design culture in Portugal. Marco is firmly rooted in a generation of designers who have built a strong international reputation for contemporary Portuguese design. Working from his atelier in Lisbon, he scouts for the best handicraft specialists in Portugal to collaborate and establish dynamic partnerships for his label BRANCA.

Manuel Aires Mateus is an internationally acclaimed Portuguese architect operating from his studio in Lisbon. Central to his design philosophy is the exploration of volumes, the creation of visual interplay among different shapes, and meticulous consideration of voids and empty spaces. Notable achievements include representing Portugal at the Venice Biennale in 2010, numerous awards and various exhibitions. Manuel is also an esteemed educator, sharing his expertise at several international universities in Europe and the USA.

Maria Rebelo Pinto is an architect and interior designer based in Lisbon. Since 2000, she has collaborated with Aires Mateus on projects ranging from private residences and apartments to offices and commercial spaces. From an early age, she cultivated a passion for interior design. At Aires Mateus, alongside her architectural work, she oversees interiors and design in collaboration with the architecture teams. Some notable projects include Silent Living, Pateos, private homes, the Spa at Malhadinha Nova, and the Montecarmo12 hotel.

In 2024, she taught the postgraduate course in interior architecture at Lusíada University, an experience she greatly valued. She continues to build on her education through courses such as jewellery and, most recently, lighting design.

Photo credits MOMEN_SALEH

Brazilian architect Guto Requena creates projects through the use of digital technologies, guided by sustainability, aiming to offer innovative and affective experiences, from products to interiors, buildings, master plans and interactive installations.
Based in Sao Paulo and Lisbon, Estudio Guto Requena received national and international awards. Guto is a guest professor at Université Paris Sorbonne and he has been lecturing and teaching internationally. He creates, writes and hosts TV and streaming shows about architecture and design. Guto collaborates as a critic for magazines and newspapers and in 2019 he published his first book “Hybrid Habitation – Subjectivities and Home Architecture in the Digital Age’’.

Michèle Fajtmann (b. Belgium) is the founder of From My City, a company formed in the UK in 2010 that creates unique events centred around artistic themes and the city. She has developed a particular expertise in creative placemaking projects. She is particularly interested in the importance of public spaces at the heart of urban communities as well as the use of art & culture for networking purpose. She is a member of the World Organization of the Periodical Press and a guest contributor of several cultural blogs. Michèle has lived in Brussels, New York, Warsaw, London and Lisbon. She previously worked as a corporate lawyer for 15 years.

"It is only in exploring new avenues that we are able to challenge ourselves, discover new things and connect better with a particular place and the people around us.”

Luisa is a German designer with a focus on Product and Exhibition Design. She is dedicated to traditional handcrafts and has recently been exploring artistic installations and interactive performances.
With a strong sense for aesthetics, a keen eye for detail and a passion for unique spaces, she serves as designer, curator and project coordinator at LDW, and is part of the After Hours initiative, a platform for emerging designers in Portugal.

For Luisa, design is a tool to inspire, interact with and connect people — it’s at the heart of her practice and her motivation for Lisbon Design Week.

Katja is a designer with a passion for concept development, sustainability and socially engaged projects. With roots in industrial and concept design, she uses creativity to connect people and inspire transformation. Versatility is at the heart of how she works and thinks, shaping a design approach that is open, collaborative and grounded in real impact.

Olivia is a brand consultant and communications specialist with 12 years of experience leading international marketing strategies, advertising campaigns and digital projects for luxury brands. For Lisbon Design Week, she currently oversees digital communications, visual brand development and annual marketing strategy, while providing integrated marketing solutions and strategic support during the festival for participants, main sponsors and partners.

Her work is deeply influenced by a love for culture and aesthetics. Educated in arts and linguistics, and having lived in London, Madrid, and Paris, Olivia brings a broad strategic perspective, commercial expertise and intuitive brand storytelling to each of her projects.

Carla loves working with the team on Lisbon Design Week and takes great pride and admiration in the incredible wealth of talented artisans and designers drawn to this creative country on the edge of Europe.

Justīne is an exhibition designer passionate about architecture and urban culture. Originally from Riga, Latvia, her journey has taken her through architecture studies at the Polytechnical University of Milan and the University of Florence - two cities that refined her approach to design - before bringing her to Lisbon.

Through her work at Lisbon Design Week, she helps foster a dynamic platform for emerging talent, creating opportunities for dialogue, collaboration and fresh perspectives.

As Special Projects Lead for Lisbon Design Week, Alexandra May develops new channels, concepts and initiatives including the curation of their soon-to-be-launched e-shop. Drawing from over a decade of international communications experience, she brings her expertise to both the annual design week and year-round programming initiatives. Fluent in five languages and having lived throughout Europe, her multicultural perspective enriches the creative vision. Beyond her professional work, she is an avid cultural enthusiast, consistently seeking innovative ways to bridge creative communities.

Sara Cálem is an independent consultant with a background in architecture and over a decade of experience in project management, technical support, and production planning for creative projects. She works closely with artists, curators, fabricators, and cultural institutions to bring complex ideas to life—ranging from public artworks and exhibitions to competition proposals and small-scale architectural rehabilitation.

Her practice bridges creative thinking with logistical and technical precision, drawing on skills in advanced 3D modelling, design development, budget and team management, and on-site coordination. For Lisbon Design Week, she supports curatorial and production efforts across various exhibitions and participants.

She enjoys the quiet problem-solving behind creative work and has a particular interest in how ideas take shape through collaboration and conversation.