Studio ARX Portugal Arquitectos was founded in 1991 by José Paulo Mateus and Nuno Mateus. The studio boasts a wide range of completed private and public projects in Portugal and abroad, as well as achievements in various international competitions. ARX has received numerous awards and commendations. Among other things, in 2006 it received the Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture Award for the municipal library in Ílhavo.

Nuno Mateus, head of the architecture department at the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa between 2004 and 2007, where he still lectures, now also teaches at the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Lisbon (FAUTL). José Mateus has lectured at the School of Architecture of the International University of Catalonia (ESARQ-UIC) in Barcelona and at the School of Decorative Arts (ESAD) in Lisbon.