Catching up with Girão Lima

We meet Lisbon’s suavest power couple for a chat about vacuum cleaners and The Sopranos.

We set out on this series aiming to give you some context on our surroundings, the city we love and the people that make it great; well, it doesn’t get much better than this. Matilde and Ricardo, of GIRÃO LIMA ARQUITECTOS, are one of those cohesive units that will challenge even the most reluctant romantic. So bright and sleek, and so exceptionally coherent, both in their practice and as a family, that even destiny presented them with miniature versions of themselves: twins Eduardo and Mónica.

As they fetch their own house plan in order to discuss where to install our plié unit, we wonder how such a thin line between life and work can be drawn. “the circumstance of working and living together is not original to us. Although in our case, architecture and life itself are perhaps indistinguishable, in a not so perfect blend of disagreements and respect. Like a love triangle or a ménage à trois.”

Pictures by Pedro Alfacinha