[6] Souto de Moura began his career as an independent architect in 1980, after winning a design competition for the Casa das Artes, a cultural center with an auditorium and an exhibition gallery in the gardens of a neo-classical mansion, in his native city of Porto.

Later, he was commissioned with shopping centers, schools, art galleries, and a cinema, in countries including Spain, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.

Between 1989 and 1997, Souto de Moura spent eight years on the restoration of Santa Maria do Bouro, a half-destroyed 12th-century monastery in Amares, transforming it into a Pousada.

[8] He has been a visiting professor at the architectural schools of Geneva, Paris-Belleville, Harvard University, Dublin, ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne, and has participated in numerous seminars and given many lectures both in Portugal and abroad.

[9] The prize was awarded for his work including Estádio Municipal de Braga, the Burgo Tower in Porto and the Paula Rego Museum in Cascais.