João Prates Ruivo is currently an MPhil / PhD candidate at the Center for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths. His research focuses on the relation between the financialization of natural resources in Angola and urbanization processes as a tool for counterinsurgency warfare. He graduated with a degree in Architecture in 2004 from Instituto Superior Tecnico in Lisbon, where he was a student of Prof. Manuel Vicente. After studying one year in the Technical University of Eindhoven, he worked in Rotterdam between 2005-2008, where he collaborated with Theo Deutinger (TD*) and at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. He then moved to Athens to start his own practice, FORA, in 2009. The work of FORA explores role of architecture in defining the relation between public and private realm, and has been awarded in several international competitions, including first prizes for Plovdiv Central Square and “Upto35” in Athens, which was exhibited at the 2012 Venice Biennale, Common Ground. jruivo@syr.edu.