Lígia Oliveira is an artist and designer working at the intersection of ecology, innovation, and cultural transformation.
Her interdisciplinary practice weaves together visual art, systems design, writing, curating, and consulting to explore how beauty, knowledge, and relationship can restore both human and planetary well-being.
With a foundation in design, art, urbanism, and contemplative practice, Lígia works to create regenerative frameworks that are tailored, sensitive, and future-facing. Her projects often unfold through deep listening, interspecies dialogue, and a commitment to designing with, rather than for.
She has collaborated with the Croatia Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, the TBA21–Academy, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, the European Commission, and the Mind & Life Institute. Her work was featured at the 2024 United Nations Ocean Decade Conference and exhibited, among others, at ExperimentaDesign.
Lígia earned a PhD in public space and urban regeneration from the University of Barcelona, and has taught and researched at this institution and the University of Porto. Her work has been supported by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, and Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, among others.
Born in Porto and shaped by the southern wetlands of Ria Formosa, Lígia brings a grounded, poetic lens to every project. Her work invites a shift: from extraction to reciprocity, from fragmentation to coherence, from urgency to care.
She is a member of the Regenerative Collective, the Centre for Studies on Planetary Wellbeing at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Gallery Climate Coalition, Design+Posthumanism Network and Rise Up for the Ocean.
This is her offering: to imagine and build futures in which all beings — humans, other species, and ecosystems —, can flourish. She writes regularly at Aretē.
HONOURS, AWARDS, GRANTS
• Mind and Life Institute, USA, 2021 & 2022
• Portuguese Ministry of Culture, 2020
• University of Barcelona, 2011
• University of Porto, 2009
• Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 2009
• Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, 2009
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain, 2000
• Portuguese Design Centre, 1999
• 3rd prize in urban furniture, Antwerp City Council and Havenhuis (co-author), 1999
• 2nd prize in illustration, Matosinhos City Council, 1999
PROJECTS, COLLABORATIONS, EXHIBITIONS (selection)
• Croatia Pavilion for the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale
• European Institute of Innovation and Technology
• European Commission
• TBA21-Academy
• Mind & Life Institute, USA
• Culatra 2030, Portugal
• UNESCO Chair Ocean’s Cultural Heritage, NOVA University, Portugal
• Casa Fuzetta, Olhão, Portugal
• Experimentadesign (exhibited in Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon)
• Havenhuis, Antwerp, Belgium
ACADEMIA
• Researcher, University of Barcelona 2009—2014
• Guest Professor, University of Barcelona, 2010
• Professor, University of Porto, 2007—2008
• Researcher, University of Barcelona, 2000—2003
PUBLICATIONS (selection)
• The Whole Body is Hands and Eyes, book
• Mediating Human-Nature Relationships: Culture and Innovation in Urban Policies for Flourishing Oceans and Global Well-Being, 2024 United Nations Ocean Decade Conference, Barcelona (poster)
• Reconsidering the body and/in the Landscape, in Designing in Coexistence – Reflections on Systemic Change. Croatia Pavilion for the 2023 Venice Biennale of Architecture. Zagreb: Association of Croatian Architects
• Embracing the Abyss: Kinship with the Unknown, in Culturing the Deep Sea: Towards a common heritage for allkinds - Ocean Archive Journeys, 2023. Venice: Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Academy
• Odisea, book
• Sessenta dias de madrugada, book
• Public space and culture in flagship new productive districts: Can Framis case study, Art Critics Association, Aragon, Spain
• Culture as an engine in Palo Alto’s urban regeneration process, University of Barcelona
• Interdisciplinarity: teaching/learning in urban design projects, University of Barcelona (w/ Brandão, A.L.; Castillo, M.; Esparza, D.; Padilla, S.; Pinto, A.J.; Ríos, M.; Salas, X.; Sasa, Z.)
• Public space in culture-led historic centre transformation projects: Porto case study, University of Barcelona
• The Economy of the Artist, Braço de Ferro, 2009 (book editor, w/ Isabel Carvalho and Pedro Nora)