Can Ran Arquitectura: "Ceramics Transform"

The work of can ran arquitectura, a Lisbon-based practice founded and directed by sisters Catarina and Rita Almada Negreiros, stems from the exploration of shared methodological frameworks and creative processes. The studio’s vision and most significant projects were presented by Catarina Almada Negreiros during her conference at BolognaFiere, as part of Costruire, Abitare, Pensare, the cultural program of Cersaie 2025. Her talk, titled Ceramics Transform, highlighted an architectural vision that unites aesthetic sensibility, functionality, and territorial identity.

can ran arquitectura – Ateliers de Santa Catarina is a true creative hub promoting interdisciplinary collaboration between architects, artists, and designers. Through a wide range of design investigations, the studio seeks innovative solutions and spatial results that are the product of a multidisciplinary synthesis. Its activity spans from residential and architectural renovation to public and private facilities, urban spaces, lighting, and ceramic tile design.

The Experimental Approach of Ateliers de Santa Catarina

The work of CAN RAN Arquitectura is characterized by a strongly experimental architecture, deeply rooted in its context yet fresh, innovative, and international in spirit. Among the studio’s most significant works is Rua do Ouro, the renovation of a complex of four buildings located on Rua Áurea, one of the most beautiful streets in Lisbon’s Baixa Pombalina district. After the devastating earthquake of 1755, the area was completely rebuilt under the direction of the Marquis of Pombal, with modern architecture and earthquake-resistant construction systems.

The building complex redesigned by can ran forms a south-facing corner within the orthogonal urban grid of the neighborhood. Divided into two separate units in the 20^th century, the project proposes the conversion of one unit for residential and commercial use, including 55 apartments and two retail spaces over a total surface area of 5,000 m², restoring the building’s original residential vocation.

The concept for Casa-Mãe Hotel, set in the historic city of Lagos on a vast site beside the ancient city walls, evolves along a thread of continuity rather than rupture with the past. The project involved restoring existing buildings and constructing two new volumes, while developing the surrounding outdoor areas through new spaces, paths, and connections. The program includes 30 rooms, two restaurants, a swimming pool, a craft shop, and workshop spaces.

The recovery of the historical complex preserved the productive nature of the orchard, restoring its irrigation systems and structures. The design draws inspiration from the vernacular architecture of the Algarve, Portugal’s southernmost region, reinterpreting its materials and spatial relationships — such as roof terraces, parapets, lattice shutters, and Santa Catarina floor tiles.

>>> Elizabeth Diller opened the cultural program of Cersaie 2025 with her keynote lecture

can ran and the Art of the Azulejos

The artistic vocation of Ateliers de Santa Catarina is especially evident in the studio’s research on azulejos, the decorated and glazed ceramic tiles typical of Iberian tradition. Whether creating new geometries and patterns — as in the São Sebastião metro station or the Rua das Adelas house — or pairing contemporary designs with historical tiles — as in the 5pm project at Paço da Rainha, also in Lisbon — can ran’s approach always involves an in-depth research process rooted in context and history, while introducing innovative and identity-driven concepts.

In the Vai Vem project, covering two small walls next to the Elevador da Bica, the architects use two “kinetic” ceramic panels to emphasize the funicular’s continuous movement up and down the hill. Using Lisbon’s signature colors — black and white — the two mirrored panels depict arrows pointing upward and downward, which visually overlap depending on the viewer’s position, merging into an abstract composition.

Azulejos also play a key role in the renovation and extension of a group of buildings on Avenida da Índia, where the façades of the new volume are entirely clad in ceramic tiles, reusing 19^th-century originals alongside seven new tile designs that reinterpret the historic patterns, highlighting both their motifs and the craftsmanship behind them.

Another notable project is Cota Zero, the new entrance hall of the Estação Fluvial do Sul e Sueste at Terreiro do Paço, originally designed in 1932 by Cottinelli Telmo. The extension, by Atelier Daciano da Costa, transforms the station into an intermodal hub connecting metro and ferry transport. Here, the ceramic cladding covers the columns and ceiling of the atrium, symbolizing the dual movements occurring in the space: boats arriving at water level and trains traveling underground. The columns are wrapped in extruded ceramic slabs following their curvature, while the ceiling features a pattern evoking the surface of the water, created through an optical effect using twenty shades of monochrome tiles, ranging from white to blue to black.

In the tile cladding project for the Esperança residences, the theme of reinventing heritage returns once again. Starting from an analysis of the existing material — a mix of different types and periods, ranging from the 18^th to the 20^th century — eight distinct patterns of vegetal and geometric motifs were identified, featuring double, simple, and figurative borders. Inside the apartments, the most complete group of tiles was arranged as boiserie throughout the various rooms, while the remaining sets were used in the building’s common areas. Where occasional gaps appeared, new tiles were crafted using the same artisanal technique as the originals, but with a subtle chromatic variation, clearly distinguishing the contemporary additions from the historic fabric.

>>> Discover the talks by Ángela García de Paredes and Gloria Cabral