Originally from Lisbon, Portugal, Ricardo has been practicing as a registered landscape architect since 2006 and for the last ten years he lived and worked in Latin America. His expertise are in planning and designing green infrastructure, nature-based and climate adaptation solutions. Ricardo is a strong advocate for landscape architecture and climate action and actively consults for local authorities, NGOs and private companies. He has vast experience as executive director and as program and project manager, where he coordinated teams of scientists, engineers and other professionals, facilitated the dialogue and established partnerships among public and private stakeholders and applied for funding. Ricardo is also a professor and researcher of landscape architecture, environmental planning, ecological urbanism and climate resilience and authored a number of peer-reviewed papers on these topics.
Ponta Delgada Urban Park, Portugal
Construction finished in 2011
Located north of the city, the park represents a total investment of 15 million euros, with an area of about 30 hectares. The Park began to be built at the end of 2007, based on a project carried out by a multidisciplinary team of the University of Lisbon. The first phase of the Urban Park included land movements, creation of leisure areas, trails and maintenance circuits.
About 6,600 trees of 600 different species were planted. The second phase of the work included the construction of the Club House and the Driving Range for golf practice. In the third and last phase, a service building and a parking lot were built.
Villa Azur, Cascais, Portugal
Construction finished in 2009
The project of outdoor spaces of the house Villa Azur, located on an oceanfront property, was a project that began in 2008. The objective was to create several spaces with different themes according to the client’s requests, an artificial lake,
a pool, a bar, a bonfire, a tennis court and an organic garden. The inert and living materials were selected according to local conditions to recreate the natural ecosystems of the dunes and Mediterranean forest.
Canal 5 de Junio, Durán, Ecuador
Project finished in 2016
The landscape restoration project of the rainwater channel in the sector of 5 de Junio, Durán, is a pilot project of green infrastructure to help mitigate the problem of flooding and decontaminate water through a system of bioswales that intercepts, retains and filters runoff water.
The space was intended to be safe, especially for the youngest, offering them play and recreation opportunities, with two ecovolley courts and a soccer field.
Green Infrastructure Project for the Community of Voluntad de Dios,
Guayaquil, Ecuador
In progress
Community project for the reduction of floods and ecosystem restoration. The channel is the structuring element of the whole proposal. It is intended to protect its margins against landslides through the construction of limestone structures and reforestation with native species. The latter will help to recover the habitat of fauna in danger of extinction, such as the howler monkey, the parrot of Guayaquil and several varieties of chiropters.
On the left margin, at the beginning of the channel, a multi-purpose retention basin will be built, with small kiosks around it. Priority streets will be paved and bioswales will be built for sustainable drainage, allowing the circulation of people, vehicles and bicycles regardless of weather conditions.
Sea Promenade of Oeiras, Portugal
Construction finished in 2009
In 2005, at the request of the City of Oeiras, began the project of the Atlantic façade of Fontaínhas, coordinated by the University of Lisbon. On a rocky coastal shore and punctually steep between two small beaches that distance each other 1100 meters, São João dos Maias and Paço de Arcos beach.
The project of the Sea Promenade bet on the monumentality and purity of cut granite walls and slate stone to connect the land and the sea in a journey of leisure, encounter and contemplation.
Corinthians Arena, São Paulo, Brazil
Construction finished in 2015
Landscape design of the stadium built for the 2014 Cup. The project of the American company SWA, had the idea of creating an ecological barrier around the stadium. A paving model was created, in which the high point is a frontal ramp, with a water mirror that helps to form a cloud that changes color.
Another detail is that the design of the floor simulates the stripes of the shirt that the Corinthians team used, which is articulated with the exterior illumination. The floor is in granite stone, with friezes that help drain the water.
Publications and other studies
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Cruz e Sousa, R. & Miranda, O. L. (2018). Incorporating wetlands in hydrologic and hydraulic models for flood zone delineation: An application to Durán, Ecuador. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 28. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420918303686
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Cruz e Sousa, R. & Ríos-Touma, B. (2017). Stream restoration in Andean cities: learning from contrasting restoration approaches. Urban Ecosystems, 20. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11252-017-0714-x
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Director of the master's thesis, “Un manejo sostenible del ciclo urbano del agua para la remediación de los paisajes de agua degradados. Caso microcuenca Quebrada Santa Elena, Medellín, Colombia”, of Alejandra Morales. Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín, Colombia.
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Franco, M., Castañer, C., & Cruz e Sousa, R. (2014). Infraestrutura verde e resilência urbana para as mudanças climáticas na Península Ibérica: Estudos de caso. Revista LABVERDE, 09, 128–163. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/issn.2179-2275.v0i9p128-163
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Director of the research project: “Evaluation of the effect of green infrastructure on reducing the risk of urban flooding in the Duran Canton, Province of Guayas.”
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Master's thesis project with the title, “Participatory Stormwater Management, Quito, Ecuador.” Recipient of the Hester Prize for Ecological Democracy 2012 from the University of California, Berkeley.
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Consultant in the "Comprehensive Study and Proposal of Urban, Landscape, Architectural, Technical and Artistic Design for the Recovery of 5 Water Reservoirs as Public Equipment for the Community of Mapasingue, Guayaquil", Ecuador.
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Consultant in the "Project of Integral Studies of Updating and Redesign of the University of Guayaquil Hospital", Ecuador.
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Consultant in the project for the "UNASUR Headquarters Park", Quito, Ecuador.
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Consultant in the "Pre and Feasibility Studies of the Water Use and Control Plan in the Province of Los Ríos", University of Cuenca, Ecuador.
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Consultant in the project, "Urbanización San Sebastián", Tumbaco, Quito, Ecuador.
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Consultant in the "Richmond Greenway Bioswales" project in Richmond, CA, USA.
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Consultant in the project "Ames Alley Retrofit Project", San Francisco, CA, USA.
