Maria João Durão´s interest in colour and drawing praxis and theory aligned with her education and professional choices. She studied Art at Lisbon Fine Arts School-University of Lisbon (UL) where she obtained BA and MA in Fine Arts, and later her research at University of Salford, Manchester, with a PhD thesis on Colour and Space, and a Post-doctoral Fellowship at University of Salford-Manchester for the research on Santiago Calatrava Drawings. Her teaching experience ranges 30 years as university lecturer, of which 20 at Lisbon School of Architecture (UL) where she founded, directed and lectured in worldwide pioneer Master (MPhil) Degree ¿Colour in Architecture¿. She¿s been Scientific Council member and lecturer of Colour in the PhD Degree in Design Course at Lisbon School of Architecture (UL) since 2006. Her drawing and colour classes are transversal to various disciplines and courses at the Lisbon School of Architecture (UL): Master Degree in Design, Specialization in Lighting Design and Masters on Built Environment for Sustainability (University of Salford). She supervised over 30 Doctoral theses and Master dissertations and regularly integrates juri panels as internal and external examiner. She set up and directs the Colour Lab-School of Architecture since 2004, a research structure that has hosted over 20 national and international master, doctoral and post-doctoral projects on colour over the last 19 years. She also directs the Research Group of Colour and Light-Research Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Design at School of Architecture, since 2016. Maria João was the first Portuguese Colour Association-APCor President and its Honorary President since 2014. She managed APCor membership to AIC in 2005. She was Executive Committee member of International Colour Association-AIC 2013-2017, Secretary /Treasurer 2021-2023 and presently serves as Vice-President (President in 2026). She Chairs the Study Group on Arts and Design, coordinates the International Colour Day since 2009. She did colour consulting for Royal Bank of Scotland; Healthcare HEDRA Research Associates Advisory Board member. She is International Association of Colour Consultants-North America¿s Vice-President of Executive Committee and an Honorary Member. Maria João Durão¿s inter and transdisciplinary interests directed her research to Aerospace Architecture. She is senior member of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and member of Team 11 set up in Houston-2002, becoming member of Aerospace Architecture Subcommittee of Design Engineering Technical Committee. In 2007 she co-founded Space Architecture Technical Committee of A and in 2020 became Exhibitions Subcommittee Chair of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Space Architecture Technical Committee Maria João writes about colour, drawing and visual culture in Art, Design, Terrestrial and Aerospace Architecture. She has served scientific committees for over 40 conferences; reviewer for AIC Proceedings and publications such as Cultura e Scienza del Colore, Gruppo del Colore; PHI Book Series, Taylor & Francis; Visual Studies, Routledge; Colour Research & Application, Wiley; editor of International Journal of Design, Environment and Sustainability -Revista Internacional diseñoMAS, Mexico, and GRID - Architecture, Planning and Design Journal, Cankaya Universitesi. She was co-author-editor of YIR article for the Journal Aerospace America 2014-2022 and was editor-author of the book Colour: Urban Space, Architecture and Design, 2022. Maria João¿s artwork engages colour predominantly in her paintings and drawings that integrate private and public collections and have been exhibited since 1989 in Portugal, Great Britain, France, Japan, China, and South Korea.