Filipe Alvaro
THE AESTHETE
If you follow Filipe Alvaro on Instagram, you’ll know him for his moody and ethereal scenes of Portugal; art-directed details from his travels and inspiration as a multi-layered interior designer. Currently based in Graça, Lisbon. His background as a fashion designer led him to work with brands and textile companies, to reimagine and transform their spaces and stores in order for a bigger picture of creativity to thrive within them.
Having began his career in the fashion industry in Porto, Filipe then moved and worked for over 10 years in Amsterdam, returning to Portugal in 2020 to be closer to the textile industry and to his family. Here in ‘The Aesthete’ we talk to him about his own personal style and his passion for multi-disciplinary design.
This is The Aesthete, a series of interviews with those who we ask to talk about taste to cultivate a creative collective of people in Portugal.
Filipe, what is it that draws you to interior design specifically?
I have always had a special interest in interior design & architecture & recently started working with interiors as a creative consultant & project manager. It’s been very gratifying & liberating to finally be able to explore this area that I have always wanted to dive in. To be honest, this process has started a while back as a sort of hobby as I was always called by my friends & family to help out with furniture choices, layout & construction decisions & of course long DIY sessions. I consider myself a professional diy-er!
Let’s talk design…
My personal design signifier is...
I’m a believer in provocative concepts and expressive narratives honouring history, location and architecture through the use of pure and tactile materials/objects, translating into a clean and timeless design.
Something that attracts me to an interior or space is…
I like places that exude history and authenticity, spaces that haven’t changed their essence and make you feel like you travel in time.
The last place I went with design in mind was…
The spot for a new project I'm currently working on for a restaurant in Alta in Coimbra.
If I could recommend one design-led spot to seek for other Aesthetes visiting Portugal it would be...
Insofar, the contemporary art gallery in Marvila in Lisbon. One night, my wife and I walked past it and the gallery owner, Hugo Carvalho, was nice enough to open the doors and give us a guided tour. Everytime we visit the gallery we learn and discover many interesting works of art.
How about travelling…
If I could travel to any time in Portugal, it would be...
The late 1970’s. I would love to feel the celebratory vibes of a country that just gained their independence from a dictatorship. There was a high level of social respect and care in Portugal back then. The style and music were just great.
When I travel, my design eye is always looking out for…
Objects with history, could be a pot or a beautiful stone.
A treasured object that I found while travelling is…
A real size terracotta hand that it’s clearly a fragment of a bigger sculpture, found in a flea market in the interior of Portugal.
Making a house a home…
If money was no object, my dream home to design in Portugal would be.....
There’s an old house in Bussaco that I drive by since I was a kid and I dream of renovating. I would fantasise about living there and enjoying its big, front terrace and its tall arcs every time we would pass it to fetch fresh water from Luso.
The one artist whose work I would fill the house with would be...
Lourenço Providência, designer and illustrator from Porto, currently living in Copenhagen.
The best thing about coming home after travelling is...
Getting back to cook dinner with my wife and Douro our cat, and sipping on a glass of good wine while we ponder about where to place our new souvenirs.
My favourite room in my house is...
The living room. Maybe because it’s the place where I manage to spend less time in but also because it’s where most memories take place. I like to change the decoration on a regular basis (little tip to keep everything “new”).
