The Ordem dos Arquitectos (OA) granted the title of Honorary Member to the Algarve architect José Veloso, following a proposal from the Algarve Regional Section of OA.
José Paulo Velho Geraldo de Albuquerque Veloso (OA member no. 304) is presented as an “architect, a fraternal man of great sensitivity”, “a militant anti-fascist since his youth”.
Now 91 years old, «José Veloso (as he is known) does not give up on contributing, by all means at his disposal, to the construction of the just and egalitarian society he has always dreamed of».
«Without dismay, his positive energy is contagious, his initiatives in favor of the populations succeed one another, his dedication and collaboration (still active) of his life towards teaching, lasts. This distinction is a way for Portuguese architects to recognize the generous and dedicated Person, the Life that faced the adversities of his time and the Architecture Cause», stresses the Algarve Regional Section.
On October 1st, at the 20th Plenary Meeting of the National Board of the Ordem dos Arquitectos, the approval of the proposals for the Granting of the Status of Extraordinary Honorary Member of OA 2021, to the architects António Abel (Alentejo), Célio Melo Costa (Centro) ), Diogo Seixas Lopes (Lisbon and Vale do Tejo), João Correia Rebelo (Azores), José Veloso (Algarve), Maria José Marques da Silva (North) and Rui Goes Ferreira (Madeira).
The delivery of the certificate of honorary member was made at the official ceremony, held at the national headquarters of the OA, in Lisbon, this Friday, the 22nd.
José Paulo Velho Geraldo de Albuquerque Veloso was born in the parish of Santa Maria de Lagos, on June 9, 1930.
He graduated in Architecture from the Lisbon School of Fine Arts and went on to practice in Lagos, where he opened his own "atelier".
With an intense political life, which began well before April 25, José Veloso was PCP candidate, in several elections for the Assembly of the Republic, always in the circle of Faro.
He was a member of the Municipal Assembly of Lagos, elected councilor of the Municipality of Lagos, in the term of 1983-1985.
He was part of the PCP's Lagos council committee and was part of the regional direction of Faro from the same party.
In 1967 and 1972, he was part of the Portuguese delegations of architects at the congresses of the International Union of Architects, respectively in Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria.
He was elected to the Council of Delegates of the Association of Portuguese Architects, successor to the National Association of Architects, now the Order of Architects.
Between 1974 and 1976, he worked for the Housing Development Fund, as project team coordinator for the Local Ambulatory Support Service (SAAL), with projects built in several Algarve municipalities.
It is within this framework that José Veloso got his name as an architect irreversibly linked to an extraordinary popular event, the hallmark of the April Revolution: «The Indians of Meia Praia», for whose neighborhood project SAAL was responsible.
Between 1976 and 2002, and as a member of the BLOCO Cooperative, he dedicated his professional activity almost exclusively to projects of public equipment, housing for municipal promotion and cooperative housing, with works built in several municipalities in the Algarve and Alentejo.
He collaborated in the defense of projects that defend the populations, namely, with a lively intervention in a large session on “The Indians of Meia Praia”, promoted and held at Casa da Achada in 2013, at the initiative of the Não Eraguem a Memória (NAM) Movement. He also participated in João Dias' film “The SAAL Process”.
After four decades of work in the Lagos area, in 2002 he resumed his liberal profession, in an architecture office in Faro.
He received honorable mentions from the Housing Development Fund, in cooperative housing projects, in Lagos.
By IPPAR, the Estalagem Abrigo da Montanha (1960) in Monchique, an architectural project of his authorship, was selected to be classified as a work of National Interest.
Several of his works were chosen by the XNUMXth Century Portuguese Architecture Survey, promoted by the Ordem dos Arquitectos.
References to his professional activity can be found in works such as “10 Years of Plastic Arts and Architecture: 1974/1984”, by Rui Mário Gonçalves and Francisco Silva Dias (Lisbon, 1985), and “Architecture in the Algarve: from the beginning to the present, a summary reading”, by José Manuel Fernandes, with photos by Ana Janeiro (Faro.
In addition to architectural projects, published in specialty magazines, such as Architecture (1962) architecture and life (2002) architecture and construction (2008) and L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui (1976), frequently collaborates in the Algarve's regional press, with opinion articles on matters relating to the profession and municipal legislation, as well as comments on actions taken by local authorities in the fields of urbanism, architecture and territorial planning.
He wrote about 160 articles in the local, regional and national press, on topics related to the profession, local authorities and nautical sports and recreation (navigating has always been his passion).
Now 91 years old, José Veloso does not give up on contributing, by all means at his disposal, to the construction of the fair and egalitarian society he has always dreamed of.
His life summarized above is based on the biography of Professor Helena Pato and on the publication, “José Veloso – Architecture, a cause”, edited by COFAC – Instituto Superior Manuel Teixeira Gomes.
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