António F. Duarte (Distante), artist-architect, Berlin.
My practice engages with dislocation, territory and consciousness. I work across painting, installation, film, sound and architecture. The methodology relies on research pilgrimages: journeys driven by self-inquiry and a commitment to first-hand encounter with reality.
Trained as an architect and a painter, I operate at the threshold between the two disciplines. Hijacking architectural discourse and processes, I build hybrid and speculative cosmologies from residues of real landscapes, personal memory and spiritual narratives.
Over the years, I have built a vast multidisciplinary archive — video, sound, 3D scans, photographs, drawings and texts. I sample and remix this material into new narratives across media that blur the lines between reality and fiction.
I create environments for contemplation and exchange, grounded in radical hope and collaboration. Through them, I investigate how generative processes and world-building meet spiritual and social practice.
This inquiry extends beyond the gallery. Through Housing NOW, we design and build low-cost prefabricated homes for vulnerable communities.
I am a Meisterschüler of Alberto de Campo (Berlin University of the Arts — UdK, 2026), with additional studies under Nina Fischer, Benjamin Maus and Echo Ho.
EDUCATION
2026 Meisterschüler of Alberto de Campo, Berlin University of the Arts - UdK, DE
2021 Concept Art, ETIC Lisbon, PT
2018 MA Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Lisbon, PT
2011 MArch Architecture, Lusíada University, Lisbon, PT
MENTORSHIP
2017 - 2018 Shine Lu, studio mentorship, Yangon, MM
2016 - 2017 João Garcia Miguel, curator and project manager, Lisbon, PT
2011 - 2013 Felix Madrazo & Arman Akdogan, architecture internship & junior practice, IND, Rotterdam, NL
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026 I Don’t Know How Many Souls I Have, UdK Medienhaus Galerie, Berlin, DE
2024 Escape Plan, Dedicated Store, Lisbon, PT
2023 The Snake Charmer, Factory Lisbon, PT
2022 On Infinity, TAF The Art Foundation, Athens, GR
2022 Passagens, Cosmos, Lisbon, PT
2021 In Utero, Útero - Casa d'Arte, Lisbon, PT
2019 Dark Atlas, Mute Art Project, Lisbon, PT
2019 Dark Atlas, MA Painting graduation show, Faculty of Fine-Arts, Lisbon, PT
COLLABORATIVE EXHIBITIONS
2025 Housing NOW - Materia Architectures, FAR, Lausanne, CH
2025 Housing NOW - Materia Architectures, Césure, Paris, FR
2025 Blue Temple - Heritage, Italian Embassy in Yangon, MM
2022 Blue Temple - Process, Institut Français de Birmanie, Yangon, MM
2020 Blue Temple - Design Trust: Critically Homemade, House Studio - Soho House, HK
2015 Infinisterra, Museu do Oriente, Lisbon, PT
2013 Infinisterra, LX Factory, Lisbon, PT
2013 Infinisterra, Lusíada University, Lisbon, PT
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED)
2026 BYOB 3.0 - Plug&Play, LA18 Foundation, Berlin, DE
2026 A Non-Trivial Sound System, Hošek Contemporary, Berlin, DE
2025 Rundgang 2025, UdK Medienhaus, Berlin, DE
2025 VIDEONALE.20 Prologue, Schaumburg, Bonn, DE
2025 Protocols, Pandora Gallery, Berlin, DE
2025 Snakes And Ladders II, Kunsthaus KuLe, Berlin, DE
2025 Kleiner Rundgang, UdK Medienhaus Galerie, Berlin, DE
2025 Snakes And Ladders, Kunsthaus KuLe, Berlin, DE
2024 An Assembly: Performing Contemporary, UdK Medienhaus, Berlin, DE
2024 Video Art Screening, Artemis Gallery, Lisbon, PT
2024 24 24: A Day on Earth, Wasserschloss Reelkirchen, Blomberg, DE
2024 Exploring Sound Fields: Imaginary Workspace, Bauhaus Reuse, Berlin, DE
2022 Waking Up in A World, Artemis Gallery, Lisbon, PT
2021 IGNIÇÃO, Rastilho Cultural, Lisbon, PT
2021 Rare Effect vol2 - NFT Festival, Arroz Estúdios, Lisbon, PT
2019 The Parasol Project, River Gallery, Yangon, MM
2018 30 Years of Fundação Oriente’s Scolarships, Museu do Oriente, Lisbon, PT
2017 GAB-A / Fine Arts Open Studios, 11th Edition, FBAUL, Lisbon
2017 6th Lusophone Cultures Biennial, Odivelas Exhibition Centre, Portugal, PT
2016 Lusíada 30 Years of Architecture, National Coach Museum, Lisbon, PT
2016 BOOM Festival 2016, Idanha-a-Nova, PT
2015 Festival AURA, Sintra, PT
2015 De Onde para Onde, ISEG, Lisbon, PT
2015 IndieLisboa 2015 Videotheque, Culturgest, Lisbon, PT
2013 MINDtheGAP, The Storefront for Art & Architecture, New York, US
2010 ARTSCIST, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, TR
2010 ENTRE PÓLOS, Pavilhão 28, Lisbon, PT
PERFORMANCES (SELECTED)
2026 Damas, Lisbon, PT
2025 Desterro, Lisbon, PT
2025 Skene III, Artemis Gallery, Lisbon, PT
2025 LaBase, Berlin, DE
2025 Pandora Gallery, Berlin, DE
2024 Snakes And Ladders, Kunsthaus KuLe, Berlin, DE
2024 Exposure, Bauhaus Reuse, Berlin, DE
2024 Searching For Lost Time, KUNSTRAUM Potsdamer Straße, Berlin, DE
2023 Skene II, Artemis Gallery, Lisbon, PT
2022 Skene, Artemis Gallery, Lisbon, PT
2022 Akasha Lives, Artemis Gallery, Lisbon, PT
2021 Brinks of Perception, Artemis Gallery, Lisbon, PT
2021 In Utero, Útero - Casa d'Arte, Lisbon, PT
2019 Dark Atlas, Mute Art Project, Lisbon, PT
CURATION
2025 Protocols, Pandora Gallery, Berlin, DE
2025 Snakes And Ladders II, Kunsthaus KuLe, Berlin, DE
2024 Snakes And Ladders, Kunsthaus KuLe, Berlin, DE
2023 Dedicated Hip-Hop Museum, Dedicated Store, Lisbon, PT
2021 Jump of Faith, DIRTYCOP, Rastilho Cultural, Lisbon, PT
2021 IGNIÇÃO II, Rastilho Cultural, Lisbon, PT
2021 IGNIÇÃO, Rastilho Cultural, Lisbon, PT
2017 Inner World, João Garcia Miguel, Príncipe Real 19, Lisbon, PT
AWARDS (SELECTED)
2026 World Habitat Bronze Award, World Habitat + UN-Habitat, Housing NOW
2025 Materia Award Finalist, Housing NOW
2024 Nikkei Asia Award, Housing NOW
2023 MIT Sandbox, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Housing NOW
2023 Third Prize, Architecture Sans Frontières International Award, Housing NOW
2023 A+ Awards Best X-Small Firm, Architizer, Blue Temple
2022 International Design Award (IDA), Bronze - print-Books, Atlas Obscuro/Dark Atlas
2022 MIT Solve, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Housing NOW
2020 Portuguese Emerging Art 2020, Emerge + Fundação PLMJ
2020 Hong-Kong Design Trust Feature Grant: Bamboo Learnings From Yangon, Blue Temple
2018 Hong-Kong Design Trust Seed Grant: Gyo Byu Pipeline Initiative, Blue Temple
2016 Boom Festival Student Competition, Stasis, Rethorica Studio
2015 Fundação Oriente Research Scholarship, Infinisterra - Architecture and Culture in Contemporary Asia
2015 European Union Mies van der Rohe Award - Nominated, Arkadia Apartments, IND
2012 Project of the Year, Turkish Architecture Association, Koç Swimming Pool, IND
2012 Leonardo da Vinci scholarship
2011 First Prize, ITU Cyprus competition, IND
2011 Honorable Mention, Troy Archeological Site Museum, IND
2010 Third Prize, ARTSCIST International student competition, Ilhan Koman Foundation, The Cell
2010 ENTRE PÓLOS prize, Magnética magazine illustration competition
PUBLICATIONS / PRESS (SELECTED)
2025 Simulacrum - A Blue Temple Book Vol.1, edited by Blue Temple
2023 Housing NOW: Revolutionizing Affordable Housing Solutions by Using Bamboo, Maya Bingaman, MIT Solve
2023 They build bamboo houses in Burma for the price of a smartphone — and give them away, Público P3, March 2023
2023 ALGORISTS, L'ordine del caos, Matteo Bonaldo, Istituto d’Arte Applicata e Design IAAD Bologna
2022 Dedicated Hip-Hop Museum, NIT, CNN Portugal, June 2022
2022 Portal, Cosmos
2022 Waking Up in a World, Peggy Schoenegge, Artemis Gallery
2020 Portuguese Emerging Art Green Edition, Emerge
2020 MA Painting 2016-2018, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Lisbon
2020 Distante - Atlas Obscuro/Dark Atlas, author’s edition
2019 Dark Atlas: Nomadism between Reality and Fiction, MA Painting dissertation, FBAUL
2016 Inner World, Whitelies Magazine, December 2016
2015 Hulda Festival - A Journey Into Art and Science, Ilhan Koman Foundation for Arts and Cultures, Turkey
2015 Infinisterra - Architecture and Culture in Contemporary Asia, author’s edition
2015 Infinisterra, VISÃO magazine, April 2015
2014 Percursos, digital publication, Lusíada University
2011 Poetics in the Age of Information, M.Arch dissertation, Lusíada University
Atelier Distante, studio for personal and collaborative production + research
Member - S4NTP - The Society for Nontrivial Pursuits
Co-founder - Housing NOW, Myanmar-based low-cost housing initiative
Director / Architect - Blue Temple, Architecture and research studio based in Myanmar, 2018-2025
Co-founder - Infinisterra, Arts and Architecture studio based in Lisbon, 2013-2018