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About

Architect, researcher, curator, and professor, Ana Neiva explores the intersections between architecture, health, well-being, culture, and curatorial practices, with a particular focus on the sensory and experiential dimensions of space. She obtained a European Doctorate in Architecture from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (FAUP) in 2020, with the thesis *"Exhibiting Portuguese Architecture: Twentieth-century Curatorial Strategies"*, developed in collaboration with the Architecture Museum of the Technical University of Munich (TUM), under the supervision of Andres Lepik.

She is currently an Invited Assistant Professor at FAUP and Assistant Professor at the Lusófona University of Porto. Her pedagogical activity covers architectural theory and history, curatorship, and interdisciplinary research methodologies, with an emphasis on exhibitions and design as forms of inquiry. She has supervised numerous master's and doctoral dissertations, many of which explore new forms of curatorial practice, activism, and architectural mediation in public space.

Her research expands architecture into the fields of art, health, well-being, and architectural curation. As an integrated member of the Centre for Studies in Architecture and Urbanism (CEAU – FAUP), and since 2022, she has co-coordinated the research line “Health, Well-being and Architecture”, in partnership with Teresa Leão, from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto. This course was recently awarded the University of Porto’s Pedagogical Innovation Seal and explores collaboration between architects, medical professionals, and others in the promotion of health and well-being. She also leads ongoing projects such as “ACT – Architecture, Curation, Transdisciplinarity” and “Framing Space”, a multidisciplinary research initiative.

She was Deputy Curator of the exhibition “Fertile Futures”, Portugal’s official representation at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale (2023), a project addressing the role of architecture in the future of water resources in Portugal; and of the ongoing exhibition “O que faz falta. 50 Years of Portuguese Architecture in Democracy”, for Casa da Arquitectura (2024), which reflects on the impact of architecture in the construction of public space and democratic life. Her curatorial practice builds bridges between academia, professional practice, and public engagement, often through site-specific installations, public programmes, and participatory formats, promoting an interdisciplinary lens through which to approach architecture and its role in contemporary society.

Alongside her academic and curatorial practice, Ana Neiva has developed architectural projects ranging from residential design and rehabilitation to exhibition design, urban installations, and ship interiors. She regards architecture as a cultural, educational, and political practice—one that values experimentation and transdisciplinarity, where space has the power to generate critical discourse.

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