Founded by Fernanda Barbara and Fabio Valentim, the studio Una Barbara e Valentim unfolds an architecture deeply connected to place, conceived in São Paulo and extended with sensitivity across Brazil. Since 1996, Fernanda and Fabio have shared a professional journey that began with Una Arquitetos, shaping an architectural poetics committed to both collective and individual life through the built environment. In 2019, they consolidated this vision under their current name, UNA Barbara e Valentim.
Local culture and authenticity
São Paulo, one of the largest metropolises in the world, is not only their physical base but also the reflective heart of their work. From here, they have addressed diverse typologies: private residences, public facilities, and ephemeral spaces for art and exhibitions.
Style and design sensibility
Their architecture is defined by a pursuit of harmony between form, function, and environment. Projects such as Casa Japi, with rammed earth walls and green roofs that enhance natural ventilation and strengthen the bond with the surrounding landscape, or the Pituba Reserve Beach Club, where discreet horizontality finds an immediate dialogue with the sea through shaded terraces and lightweight volumes, stand as tangible examples of this delicate integration.
Awards and recognition
Their work has been acknowledged internationally: four participations in the Venice Architecture Biennale (2002, 2006, 2014, and 2018); an invitation to the Lisbon Triennale in 2010 with a social housing project from Recife; and notable accolades for the Sesc Parque D. Pedro II, including the Grand Prize at the Santa Cruz Biennial, the IAB/SP Award 2021, the Saint-Gobain Award 2021, and the Roberto Aflalo Award from AsBEA.
Beyond the studio, both are dedicated academics:
Fernanda Barbara
Graduate and Master’s degree holder from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of São Paulo. She has participated in international seminars and given lectures in cities such as Chicago, Paris, Porto, Lisbon, Querétaro, Santiago, Montevideo, La Plata, and several Brazilian cities. She has been a guest lecturer in postgraduate courses: Master in Projects at the FAU of the National University of La Plata | Argentina since 2022; Diploma of Specialization in Project Research at FADU/UDELAR in Montevideo | Uruguay in 2017; and Des Mutations Urbaines at the École Spéciale d’Architecture – Paris | France in 2015.
She was part of the curatorial team for the Brazilian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2006 and for the Ibero-American Biennial in 2019. She served on the jury for the National Competition of the SAU (Society of Architects of Uruguay) in 2023 and for the international competition of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale – Debut Award in 2016.
Associate professor at Escola da Cidade (since 2006), where she has coordinated various subjects and Plataforma Plus, a research laboratory focused on São Paulo’s central region, alongside architects Fréderic Druot and Camille Bianchi and sociologist José Guilherme P. Leite, based on the experience of the French studio Lacaton & Vassal.
In addition to her architectural and urban studies, she holds a Journalism degree from the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC – SP) in 1990, studied Social Sciences at the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences at the University of São Paulo in 1985, and Philosophy at the same institution from 1986 to 1988.
Fabio Valentim
Graduate of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of São Paulo in 1995, with a Master’s degree from the same institution in 2003 on the school buildings of Artigas (Houses for Learning – The Schools of Vilanova Artigas). He has taught in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, the United States, England, Portugal, Switzerland, and numerous Brazilian schools. He has been a guest speaker at various workshops, including those at FADU (Montevideo, 2007), La Sapienza University in Rome (2014), and Universidad Mayor in Chile (Santiago, 2014). He coordinated the SP/BsAs 2015 Workshop, bringing together the University of La Plata, the Colegio de Arquitectos Distrito 2 of Buenos Aires, the Brazilian Institute of Architects – São Paulo, and Escola da Cidade.
He was part of the curatorial team for the Ibero-American Biennial in 2019.
Visiting professor in the postgraduate program at the National University of La Plata, Argentina, since 2022. Associate professor at Escola da Cidade (since 2006), where he coordinates the Project VII course, teaches in the Vertical Studio (EV), and supervises the Final Degree Project (TCC). Coordinator of the Escola da Cidade Publishing House from 2016 to 2022.
Editor of the book Um Guia de Arquitetura de São Paulo – 12 Rotas e 124 Projetos, published by Escola da Cidade in collaboration with WMF Martins Fontes, which won the Best Publication Award from IAB/SP in 2019.
In 2008, he wrote a critical essay for the book The City and Its Margins, by artist Elisa Bracher, which was awarded by the São Paulo Institute of Architects.
Una Barbara e Valentim, the voice of an architecture where São Paulo beats with light and memory, brings together Fernanda Barbara and Fabio Valentim in a dance between teaching and creation. Their work — award-winning, profound — engages in dialogue with landscapes, materials, and bodies. From rammed earth to green roofs, they translate space and time into sensitive experiences, always rooted in the heart of the collective.