Vítor Cóias

Vítor Cóias was born in 1943 in Cano, in Sousel, Alentejo. He lived with his family in Angola since he was five, and returned to Portugal to start his college education. During most of his career, he has made an essential contribution to the preservation of architectural and cultural heritage in Portugal. He got his Civil Engineer degree from the Instituto Superior Técnico of Lisbon in 1968. He dedicated his career to research, development, implementation, education and dissemination of technical solutions respectful with the structural and constructive integrity of the buildings to be rehabilitated.
He started his professional career working as a structural designer for construction companies, first in Luanda and later in Lisbon. Upon his return to Portugal, concerned about the excessive focus of his profession on reinforced concrete structures, and the obstacle this represented to understand the historic stone, brick and timber structures that make up most of our architectural heritage and therefore, to intervene successfully on them, he decided to dedicate his career to analyze, understand and repair these types of constructions.
This decision led him to establish several companies dedicated to diagnose constructive and structural problems in historic buildings and to rehabilitate them and adapt them to new uses. Additionally, he has actively collaborated with several universities and research centers in the development and the standardization of technical solutions that facilitate the conservation and reinforcement of these structures. Thus, he avoided the loss of irreplaceable heritage which would otherwise have been demolished and replaced by steel and concrete structures.
Among the activities of his companies, he has intervened in many historic buildings in Portugal, where he has been a strong defender of the historic earthquake-resistant timber structural systems of Baixa Pombalina and he has worked in prominent Portuguese monuments such as the Palácio de Mateus.
No less important has been his role as an educator for both the general and specialized public, thanks to the continuity and consistency of his numerous initiatives to promote a better conservation of the architectural heritage and constructive traditions through many conferences, publications, interviews, and especially through the creation of the magazine Pedra Cal, the Sociedade Portuguesa de Estudios de História da Construção, and civil platforms such as the Grémio do Património (GECoRPA) or the Fórum do Patrimonio, which brings together most of the Portuguese associations dedicated to the defense of architectural heritage.
He has published numerous works, including books such as: Guia Prático para a Conservação de Imóveis (Dom Quixote, 2004), Inspecções e ensaios na rehabilitação de edificios (Instituto Superior Técnico, 2006) and Reabilitação Estrutural de Edifícios Antigos (Argumentum, 2007).
Vítor is also a member of the advisory committee of ICOMOS Portugal and expert advisor of ISCARSAH (International Scientific Committee for the Analysis and Restoration of the Structures of the Architectural Heritage), the body of ICOMOS dedicated to historic structures.