Andreia Garcia (b. Guimarães, 1985) is a Portuguese architect, curator, editor, researcher, and university lecturer based in Porto. Her practice explores the intersections between architecture and adjacent disciplines within a context shaped by rapid technological change and the ongoing ecological crisis. She is the founder of Architectural Affairs, a platform dedicated to architectural practice, research, and dissemination through curatorial work, editorial projects, and urban scenography. She is also co-founder, together with Diogo Aguiar, of Architecture Gallery, an independent space devoted to critical reflection and debate on architecture, the city, and territory.
Her architectural work has been shortlisted for several international awards, including the FAD Awards (2018, 2019, and 2020), the Dezeen Awards (2019), the BigMat Awards (2019), the HAUSER Awards (2020), and the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award (2022).
Alongside her architectural practice, she has developed an extensive curatorial career focused on architecture and contemporary art. In 2012, she coordinated the project Smaller Cities and managed Creative Landscape as part of Guimarães European Capital of Culture. In 2015, she curated Projecto Memória for the centenary of Theatro Circo in Braga and coordinated the editorial programme for the Portuguese representation at the 21st Triennale di Milano. In 2017, she curated Shaping Shape, the architecture programme of the Maia Contemporary Art Biennale, and presented the exhibitions Endless Space: Propositions for the Continuous and Rhythm of Distances: Proposals for Repetition at Galeria Vertical in Porto, exploring the relationship between art, architecture, and spatial experience.
In 2018, she conceived and curated the first edition of Mês da Arquitectura da Maia (MAM), dedicated to the work of architect João Álvaro Rocha, followed in 2019 by Fast Forward, the second edition of the programme, which invited architects and critics to speculate on the future of territory, landscape, technology, mobility, and society in the year 2119. That same year, she served as chief curator of the Maia Contemporary Art Biennale, Importar / Exportar, organised around the disciplines of architecture, design, visual arts, and new media. Other curatorial projects include Double Exposure (Roca Gallery, 2019), Anuário (Porto, 2020), and Contemporâneos Extemporâneos (Fernando Santos Gallery, 2021). She is also the founder and director of the Art(e)facts Knowledge Biennale.
In 2023, she was appointed curator of the Official Portuguese Representation at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, with the project Fertile Futures. The exhibition brought together young architects and experts from different fields of knowledge to propose more sustainable, healthy, and equitable futures, advocating for collaborative, decarbonised, and decolonised architectural practices.
Garcia received her PhD in Architecture from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon (FAUL) in 2015. Her doctoral thesis was awarded the Professor Manuel Tainha Prize for the best PhD dissertation in Architecture (2014/2015) and was later published under the title City, Architecture and Scenic Space. She has lectured and participated in academic programmes at institutions including the Madrid School of Architecture (ETSAM), the University of Valladolid, the University of São Paulo, the Vilnius Academy of Arts, and the Amman School of Architecture. She has been a visiting lecturer at the School of Architecture of the University of Minho and a studio tutor at the Architectural Association in London. She is currently an Associate Professor and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Beira Interior.
