Fernanda Barbara and Fabio Valentim founded UNA barbara e valentim in 2019, after more than 20 years as partners at Una Arquitetos, developing designs of various scales and programs. The new studio pens new perspectives for work with a set of projects under development in the residential, commercial, mixed use and cultural areas.
UNA barbara e valentim has a consolidated team of collaborators and partnerships with engineering, arts and design companies as well as multidisciplinary professionals as permanent research support for building, city and environment design. Its actions are dedicated to architecture as an instrument of qualification of public and private spaces, designed for a better life, collective or individual.
The city of São Paulo, from where the partners originate, is the matrix of the issues that guide their work. One of the largest metropolitan regions in the world, the city has been a territory of reflection, with the development of projects as residential buildings, large public facilities and spaces, as well as ephemeral designs, especially for visual arts exhibitions. New opportunities have also led to designs in other cities and states of the country, in regions with different occupation densities.
Parallel work in the academic field over the last 20 years has strengthened the investigative aspect of professional activity, while at the same time feeding back practical experience in the teaching environment. Una Arquitetos exhibited in 4 editions of the Venice Biennale of Architecture (2002, 2006, 2014 and 2018), and participated in the Lisbon Triennale in 2010.
Una Arquitetos has been awarded several prizes for constructed works, among them the highest award from the Institute of Architects of Brazil (IAB), the Carlos Barjas Millan prize for the design of the Estação Bandeirante. Una also received a prize at the V International Architecture Biennale in São Paulo for the design of the Centro Universitário Maria Antônia (USP), and at the VII Biennale, for the urban plan for the neighborhoods of Mooca and Ipiranga, in São Paulo. In 2018, 2 designs by Una Arquitetos were among the finalists at the MCHAP Award in Chicago, US (Casa 239 and the Huma Klabin Building). Casa 239 was also awarded at the 6th Tomie Ohtake Institute Architecture Prize and Akzo Nobel in 2019.
In 2003, Una joined architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha’s team in the project for São Paulo’s bid to host the 2012 Olympics.
Una has won public competitions, such as for the rehabilitation of the Central Post Office Agency (1997), the UNICAMP Theatre Laboratory of Performing and Body Arts (2002) and RENOVA SP_Oratório (2011), in addition to a series of restricted competitions (by invitation), such as for the new Colégio Santa Cruz campus (2003) and the expansion and adaptation of the Vera Cruz School (2008). Una Arquitetos has also been invited to participate in international restricted competitions, such as for the Lyceé Miterrand in Brasilia and the extension of the Museum of Modern Art in Medellin, Colombia.
Their designs have been widely published in national and international magazines, books and websites, and as part of the Coletivo – Arquitetura Paulista Contemporânea exhibition, which was shown in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon, Zurich, St. Louis, Braumschweig and Santiago de Chile, with a book published by CosacNaify.
They are currently finalizing the design for the Sesc Parque Dom Pedro II in the central region of São Paulo, under the coordination of architects Fabio Valentim and Fernanda Barbara.
Una Arquitetos also previously worked with partners Ana Paula Pontes (1996 – 1999) and Catherine Otondo (1996 – 1999), and is also currently formed by Cristiane Muniz (since 1996) and Fernando Viégas (since 1996).
