Quino Bono’s architecture is very much about bringing people in. He welcomes the opportunity each new client presents to extend his own understanding and renew his thinking about his work. Exploring the World Architecture Festival is another chance to absorb the zeitgeist.

Strolling the halls of the World Architecture Festival 2022 in Lisbon, Quino Bono is listening out for the thought processes that inform his fellow architects’ work. For him architecture is a process, always evolving according to the particular needs of the client in their specific place and time.

Being open to ideas from everywhere is vital to his practice. We live in a global village, after all, and ideas catch on and spread quickly. But he is keen to point out that architects should not assume that everywhere is the same. People in different places will have different requirements for their built spaces. Repeating the same ideas in one city after another is not architecture. Quino’s practice emphasises architecture as a social activity, in that it requires close attention to people.

Quino works hard to internalise the culture of the location of any new project. He and his team will spend time living there in order to an understanding of how people really live. He sees any new commission as an opportunity to create a good space for living, and he is always grateful to his clients for these chances to reimagine the process.

Strolling around the World Architecture Festival in Lisbon, Quino is interested not just in the projects as realised, but in the thought process that took the architects to that point. It’s a great chance to see the different approaches in operation, and to reflect on his own practice. What he takes away for this year’s festival is that the future is all about sustainability. Sharing ideas and enquiring into one another’s processes will allow architects to create the spaces that people, as individuals and societies, want and need. Enjoy Quino’s insights as he chats to Karl Lennon.