She is an architect, graduated from FA/UTL in 1987, later completing a Master's in Housing Architecture (curricular part FA/UTL, 1997) and a Ph.D. in Urban Planning (FA/UTL, 2008) with the thesis "Urbanism and Architecture in Angola - from Norton de Matos to the Revolution." In 2004, she was a scholarship recipient from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. She has been a lecturer since 1990 (FA/UTL) and is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Urban Planning (FA/UL). She served as the department's director from January 2021 to October 2023. A full member of CIAUD - Research Center in Architecture, Urbanism, and Design, she contributes to the URBinLAB research group, focusing on Urbanism and Spatial Planning, with a special emphasis on Portuguese Architecture and Urbanism in the Angolan context, public space, and social housing. She worked as a freelance professional, an architect in her own studio, from 1987 to 2012, operating in the fields of urbanism, architecture, and interior architecture, with both private and public recognition through public competitions. She co-founded the studio FFCB arquitectos associados, Lda. Her areas of interest include Portuguese colonial urbanism and architecture of the 20th century, with a particular focus on Angola, as well as housing, public space, and urban rehabilitation.