A040 is an architecture and urban design office based in Rio de Janeiro and Paris.
We operate across scales — from domestic space to territorial infrastructures — treating architecture as a material, environmental, and civic practice.
Each project engages the cultural and technical inheritance already in place. We work through transformation and typological reuse, understanding the sustainable city as a process of radical adaptation.
Our work has received multiple international awards and recognitions.
A040 maintains an active engagement with research and education. We have published several books and essays and have taught at institutions including the Architectural Association (London, UK), the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and ENSA Versailles (France).
Thiago T. A. de Soveral, AA-PhD
Dr. Thiago T. Abranches de Soveral is a licensed architect working between Paris and Rio de Janeiro. His practice spans architectural design, urban development, planning, consultancy, research, and teaching.
He holds a PhD from the Architectural Association School of Architecture (London, UK), where he also completed the AA–MPhil in Projective Cities. He earned a Master’s degree from Bauhaus Dessau (Germany) and a Bachelor’s degree from Universidade Santa Úrsula (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
Thiago is currently Head of Architecture and Urban Development Management at BlendGroup, he is a World Bank/IFC consultant for Social Housing, and Architecture Coordinator of the +Lapena Habitat Programme at the Tide Setúbal Foundation.
He teaches at the École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Versailles (ENSA-V). Previously, he was a studio master at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (FAU/UFRJ) and a seminar tutor in History and Theory of Architecture at the Architectural Association (AA), London.
Thiago is a researcher at LéaV – Laboratoire de recherche de l’École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Versailles, within the research axis Transition(s), transformation(s). He is also a member of the research group UrCA – Urbanism, Critique and Architecture (PROURB | FAU | UFRJ) and serves as a board member of the Institute of Architects of Brazil - IAB–RJ.
He currently coordinates a pilot social housing project based on a rental model in the periphery of São Paulo (Tide Setúbal Foundation | BlendGroup), exploring new forms of collective ownership and shared management of housing units and common spaces, incorporating innovative financial models based on blended finance structures.
He is a co-founder of A040, and his work has been exhibited in St. Louis (USA), Venice (Italy), Copenhagen (Denmark), and Katowice (Poland), including at the World Urban Forum (WUF11).
soveral@a040.info
thiagosoveral@versailler.archi.fr
ENSA-V LeaV: versailles.archi.fr/fr/annuaire-enseignants/thiago-de-soveral
Cauê Capillé, PhD
Cauê Capillé is a Professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (FAU UFRJ) and at the Graduate Programme in Urbanism (PROURB FAU UFRJ). Architect (FAU UFRJ, 2011); PhD in Architecture (the Bartlett UCL, 2016); FAPERJ Post-Doctoral Researcher at PROURB FAU UFRJ (2017-18); Urban Studies Foundation Fellow at ENSA Paris Malaquais (2021-22); Visiting Researcher at Royal College of Art (2021-22); Guest Professor at Columbia GSAPP (2024-25).
His research and design studios focus on the relationship between architectural design, political and urban theories and ordinary urban conditions.
His works have been awarded and exhibited on different occasions, including the Venice Architecture Biennale; the Ibero-American Biennale, the São Paulo International Architecture Biennale; the European Cultural Centre in Venice; and the RIBA President’s Awards for Research.
capillé@a040.info
FAU UFRJ Profile: fau.ufrj.br/portfolio/caue-capille
Ariane Pereira
Ariane Pereira is an architect and urban planner (FAU–UFRJ, 2019), a specialist in urban and regional planning (IPPUR–UFRJ, 2023), and a Master’s candidate in Architecture and Urbanism at NPGAU–UFMG. She contributed to the development of the Social Housing Guidelines Report for the Jardim Lapena (2021).
She is currently a collaborator on the +Lapena Habitar project, which emerged from this report and from the practice A040. Her work has focused on collective design processes, projects, and artistic exhibitions that engage critically with debates on urban peripheries. She received awards from IAB–RJ in the categories of Buildings and Interiors and Design in 2023 and 2024. It has been collaborating with A040 since 2024.
pereira@a040.info
Lucas Marques
Lucas Marques is an architect and urban planner graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (FAU UFRJ) and a Master’s candidate in Urbanism at the Graduate Programme in Urbanism (PROURB FAU UFRJ). His research focuses on the genealogy of the architectural boundary and its contemporary forms.
In 2025, he was awarded First Prize in the national competition for the renovation of the Terrace of Clube Central, organised by IAB–RJ, and participated in the exhibition (RE)INVENTION at the 19th International Architecture Biennale of Venice. It has been collaborating with A040 since 2025.
marques@a040.info