UPTEC architect among the 40 most promising in Europe

Tiago Sá is one of the winners of the ‘Europe 40 under 40’ international competition, which honours the 40 most promising young architects and designers in Europe. The three projects that led to the Porto architect’s honour emerged from international public tenders won by his  sastudio, an architecture studio based at UPTEC  – Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto,  with local partners Hjark, all located in Iceland.

The Höfn Community Centre is a multi-purpose building that supports various uses for the local community and visitors, in a privileged area that was previously used to build private housing. The project was honoured at the WAN Awards and won the World Architecture Festival – Future Projects.

The master plan for Vík í Mýrdal, in the south of Iceland, is being developed in collaboration with the local authorities and involves the planning and construction of new neighbourhoods in the municipality over the next 10 years.

Finally, the Gardabaer kindergarten, recently opened near the Icelandic capital of Reikjavik, also received the Green Building Council’s ‘Sustainable Building of the Year’ award and the eco-label ‘Swan certificate’.

The founder of sastudio was the only Portuguese to be honoured in this edition. ‘Europe 40 under 40’ is an annual awards programme initiated by The European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design. The distinction serves to highlight the next generation of architects and designers with an impact on future living and working environments, in cities and rural areas.

In 2017, Diogo Aguiar (Diogo Aguiar Studio) and Filipa Frois Almeida+Hugo Reis (FAHR 021.3), architects from the UPTEC community, also received this honour. In 2018, it was the turn of Samuel Gonçalves, founder of the SUMMARY studio, to make the list.