The hori-zonte office is one of the Portuguese finalists for the Building of the Year 2025 Awards from the international platform ArchDaily. It has formed a group that aims to put forward concrete urban planning proposals to reduce the effects of climate change in Lisbon.

The contributions made by the experts will be shared at the 9th edition of Archi Summit, which will take place in Lisbon, at the Convento do Beato. In a statement, the hori-zone office reveals that the event will take place from 9 to 11 July, where the final document will be released on the last day of the event, at 2.30 p.m.

"The multidisciplinary team that will work in the Archi Summit context includes names such as architects Manuel Aires Mateus and Inês Lobo, scientist Filipe Duarte Santos (professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, president of the National Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development and one of the most renowned researchers in climate change and sustainability), engineer Vasco Appleton (A2P Engenharia), urban planner Daniel Casas Valle (known for his work ‘The Future Design of Streets’), architect and researcher Adrian Krężlik (Dosta Tec, Energy and Buildings for Future Climate), landscape architect Catarina Viana (Topiaris), sustainability expert Vanessa Tavares (BUILT CoLAB – Collaborative Laboratory for the Built Environment of the Future), landscape architect Paulo Palha (Neoturf and EFB - European Federation of Green Roof and Green Wall Associations) and public health expert Teresa Leão (assistant professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto and the Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto), among other contributors, which the organisation is currently finalising and will be announced in the coming days”, says in the statement.

Diogo Lopes Teixeira, co-founder of the hori-zonte office, notes that “Lisbon faces several climate challenges that require urgent and integrated responses. With the ‘ReThink Lisboa’ workshop, we want to create a space where architects, urban planners, scientists and other professionals can think together about real solutions for the city and the well-being of its citizens.”

In the statement, in which Diogo Lopes Teixeira is quoted, he refers to the genesis of the final document, which “could serve as a reference for the implementation of sustainable policies and projects.”

Thermal inequality

Despite the efforts of the European Environment Agency, Lisbon is “the 11th European capital with the lowest tree cover - a critical factor if we consider that the temperature drops by an average of 1ºC for every additional 50 square metres of vegetation cover.”

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The city has “an uneven thermal map with several urban heat islands manifesting themselves cyclically.’ Among the thermal islands, there are ‘average differences between 2ºC and 3ºC, but in some places, differences of 11ºC from the reference values are reached.”

The issue is already being addressed in several European capitals, such as Paris, where Diogo Lopes Teixeira notes that, in the city, “40% of the asphalt on the road network will be replaced in the coming years with more thermally reflective coatings, while car parks will be converted into green areas and almost 200,000 trees will be planted.”