Born in 1936 in Coimbra, Portugal, José Forjaz settled in Mozambique in the 1950s, where he began his career as a draughtsman at the Provincial Public Works Services, training under the architect Pancho Guedes.
Forjaz played a leading role in the training and development of architecture in Mozambique, coordinating the creation of the Faculty of Architecture at Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), an institution where he was director from 1990 to 2008. His influence and work extended beyond Mozambique, also operating in Eswatini, Botswana and South Africa from 1968.
In his professional career in Mozambique, Forjaz held several prominent government posts: he was a technician in the Studies Office at the Ministry of Public Works and Housing until 1977, National Director of Housing from 1977 to 1983, represented the country at the Habitat Conference in Vancouver (1978) and was Focal Point for UN HABITAT and UNEP from 1979 to 1985. He also served as Secretary of State for Physical Planning from 1983 to 1986.
The author of a vast body of architectural work in Mozambique and other countries of Southern Africa, José Forjaz also wrote books and other publications in the field of architecture. His last work is entitled “Pensar Arquitectura”.
