Collaborations

Aida Bairos

Wicker artisan and grower

Aida Bairos is a wicker artisan and grower whose work explores the potential of natural fibres through traditional and contemporary techniques. Based on the southernmost island of Azores – Santa Maria – she began learning the craft in 1986 under the guidance of her father, a master basket maker. Since then, she has presented her work in exhibitions, fairs, and cultural events across the Azores, mainland Portugal, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, and the United States. She has led numerous workshops and continues to expand her practice through ongoing learning. Aida cultivates her own raw materials in a sustainable manner and creates both utilitarian and decorative pieces. Her work reflects a deep connection to place, process, and ancestral knowledge that should be preserved. For Moinho da Areia, Aida created wicker stools that bring warmth and crafted detail to the living room and deluxe suites - a small tribute to Santa Maria island, and a reflection of the Azorean craft traditions we seek to honour in this collaboration

Beatriz Brum

Visual Artist

Beatriz Brum is an Azorean visual artist whose work explores the nature of light through processes and experiences that question its materiality, boundaries and shapes. She holds a degree in Fine Arts from ESAD.CR, where she also completed master degrees in Cultural Management (2017) and Fine Arts (2019). Her practice has been recognized with several distinctions, including the Young Creators award at Walk&Talk (2015) and the António Dacosta Painting Prize  awarded by the Regional Government of the Azores (2020). Beatriz is represented by Galeria Fonseca Machado, in Ponta Delgada, and continues to develop work that blurs the lines between perception, space, and sensorial experience. For Moinho da Areia, Beatriz created a bespoke diptych in response to our invitation to reflect on themes of sustainability and the Atlantic. Stepping beyond the bounds of her usual practice, she approached the project as an opportunity for material and conceptual exploration – layering and hand-cutting plastic bags to form the final composition. The work draws inspiration from her earlier series on the lagoons of São Miguel, while continuing her explorations into light and form. Rooted in the landscape of São Miguel – her home island and where we are located – the piece subtly calls attention to the delicate balance of the aquatic ecosystems that surround and sustain island life.

Constança Soromenho

Graphic designer

Constança Soromenho is a graphic designer based in Lisbon whose practice moves between branding, editorial, packaging, and art direction. Her work combines visual clarity with narrative intention, always seeking a balance between the meaningful, the beautiful and the extraordinary. After several years working with leading design agencies, she is now freelancing through life and working independently, embracing the freedom to collaborate with people and brands she believes in. For Moinho da Areia, Constança developed the branding inspired by São Miguel’s natural landscape - from volcanic stone, ocean elements and grain texture to Moinho da Areia’s 16^th- to 19^th century architectural heritage, especially its arches and windows. Elements from the Atlantic, such as corals, shells, and coastal rocks, play a central role, adorning printed materials and packaging. The colour palette reflects the landscape: terracotta, sun-washed beige, and a green reminescent of the island’s vegetation, blending São Miguel’s essence with a playful contemporary elegance.

Francisco Varela, re.SK8.design

Architect and Craftsman

Francisco Varela is the founder of re.SK8.design, a project launched in 2021 that transforms old skateboards into sustainable furniture. Rooted in the aesthetics of skate culture and the principles of the circular economy, his work gives new life to discarded materials through colour, craftsmanship, and innovation. Each piece is custom-made, crafted from skateboard wood and waste materials from the furniture industry. The process involves stripping, sanding, and reassembling vibrant wood blocks into functional objects with a bold identity. For Moinho da Areia, Francisco created bespoke furniture pieces for the five suites – including benches, expressive door hangers for the wardrobes, wall hooks, and hanging accessories such as a mirror – all thoughtfully designed and balancing utility with sculptural presence. These contemporary, functional objects combine aesthetic clarity with sustainable values, embodying the essence of reuse, versatility, and design with purpose.

Joana Subtil

Art director and Interior designer

Joana Subtil is a Portuguese art director and set designer, originally from Caldas da Rainha and currently based in Lisbon. With a background in Equipment Design from the Faculty of Fine Arts, her work spans scenography, interiors, exhibition curation, window displays, and film sets. Since 2019, she has focused on building a multidisciplinary freelance practice, crafting environments that respond to each   project’s context – whether a stage, a room, a house, or a brand. Her approach is rooted in an experimental understanding of space and its relationship with people, where scale, materiality, and narrative coexist in considered harmony. For Moinho da Areia, Joana took on the role of art director and interior designer, shaping the project from its early conceptual stages to its final materialisation, making several trips to São Miguel over the course of the process. She developed bespoke interior compositions and led the artistic curation, guiding all collaborations to ensure a cohesive aesthetic. The old mill itself became the conceptual anchor; during the repérage phase, she researched the island’s milling heritage and used it as a point of departure for her reinterpretation. Drawing from local crafts and traditions with a contemporary lens, she worked closely with materials, colours, and techniques – even hand-painting the tile composition in each bathroom. Always balancing history with a contemporary vision, she helped craft what we believe is a home that embodies the spirit of the art of living.

Luis Nobre Guedes

Photographer

Luís Nobre Guedes is a Portuguese photographer based in Lisbon focused on architectural photography. Working as a freelancer, he collaborates with architecture studios and editorial publications, among others. For Moinho da Areia, Luís travelled to São Miguel and stayed at Moinho da Areia to document the project in its entirety – from architectural and interior design details, to surrounding landscape and local life. In addition, he created a portrait series of the core team behind the project. The result is what you see: the vast majority of the photographs published on this website - and across other platforms - belong to his attentive and refined visual narrative.

Luzalba

Visual artist

Luzalba is the artistic name of Daniela – a Portuguese visual artist, professor, and researcher whose work spans visual arts, design, sculpture, performance, and traditional printmaking techniques. Her artistic practice is rooted in a deep engagement with natural elements, ancient rituals, and scientific references. In recent years, her creative focus has turned toward sea culture, shaped by her proximity to the Atlantic. For Moinho da Areia, she undertook a short artistic residency in São Miguel, during which she worked with species such as alfonsim, peixe-porco, peixe-galo, boca negra, encharéu and raia, that she printed directly from the fish using squid ink on recycled textiles sourced from the hospitality industry. These works now inhabit the suites of our watermill - each one unique, featuring different species and compositions. She also created a series of cyanotypes using elements collected from the land and the sea – a visual journey that unfolds along the upper floor, leading to the terrace.

Marta Ramos, Ginger & Stitch

Embroidery artist

Marta Ramos is a Portuguese artist from Mangualde, currently based in Lisbon, where she runs a photography and food video studio. With a background in film and a deep-rooted family connection to textile traditions – inspired by her grandmother and her tailor grandfather – she began exploring embroidery under the alter ego Ginger & Stitch. Her practice merges traditional stitching techniques with unexpected materials such as photographs, vintage fabrics, and found book pages, giving rise to a distinctive and playful visual language that she shares with other people, often giving workshops. For Moinho da Areia, Marta embraced a flash collaboration to develop our embroidered team uniforms – a project we had envisioned well before opening in August 2024. At the time, we opened with the team members wearing basic clothing, knowing we wanted something more intentional and craft-led. From the beginning, we knew we wanted to challenge the conventions of uniform design in the hospitality industry – choosing hand embroidery over machine-stitched logos to bring intention and individuality to each piece, replacing mechanical precision with the irregular human beauty of hand-stitched details. In March 2025, returning to the idea that was on hold, and after a period of research, we found Marta and immediately knew from her enthusiastic attitude she was the right person to bring this vision to life. Now, in April 2025, as the team in São Miguel is about to receive the pieces she created, this is quite a reminder that the best things are always worth waiting for, and that purpose-driven ideas do not have an expiration date. She designed and embroidered two versions of our shirts, as well as a scarf, stitching marine elements, our logo, and a tagline with 100% cotton threads. The result is not a uniform in the traditional sense, but a look that reflects the identity and colours of Moinho da Areia – with the lightness of life by the beach where embroidered details appear in uncommon and unexpected places.

Miguel Cardinho

Visual artist

Miguel Cardinho is a Portuguese artist born in Leiria. His primary interest lies in collecting and repurposing objects and materials discarded by society, exploring ways to reintroduce them into everyday life through DIY techniques. With a strong focus on both traditional and contemporary craftsmanship, his work blends humour and critical reflection. He also conducts upcycling workshops, sharing sustainable practices rooted in hands-on knowledge and creative reinvention. For Moinho da Areia, Miguel created a site-specific piece for the living room using materials collected from the beach – including wood, plastic, metals and stones. The work is a layered and slightly satirical exploration of São Miguel, bringing together elements from both land and sea, and echoing daily life in Ribeira Grande – the second-largest city on the island and home to our watermill. Among several local references, it features a nod to the Ponte dos Oito Arcos, an iconic architectural element of the city, embedded in a broader narrative to raise awareness about ocean pollution and the importance of addressing it through care and creativity.

Rita Sevilha

Textile artist

Rita Sevilha is a Portuguese textile artist whose work explores fabric as a language – particularly through tapestry and weaving – engaging themes of sensation, memory, and emotion. Rooted in traditional techniques, her practice brings the strength and simplicity of nature into the fabric, while transforming raw fibres into quietly powerful compositions. For Moinho da Areia, Rita created a series of handwoven tapestries that honour the watermill past and legacy. These pieces, woven with linen and cereal grains such as black-bearded wheat, are displayed in the living room – above the original millstones – and along the staircase, evoking the memory of the cereals once ground here and celebrating the mill’s role in the socio-economic life of Ribeira Grande. Alongside them, she also crafted a tapestry depicting Moinho da Areia itself, now hanging above the breakfast table. Framed by the presence of the millstones, we believe her work reconnects the space to its history while offering a new way to experience it.

Tiago Águas

Circular product designer

Tiago Águas is a Portuguese designer based in Lisbon with a background in product design. Holding a bachelor’s degree in Design and a master’s in Product Design, his practice moves fluidly between materials such as wood, steel, ceramics, and more recently, recycled plastic. Alongside hands-on making, he also works with technical drawing, 3D modelling, and rendering, bridging craftsmanship with digital precision. Since 2016 Tiago has focused primarily on recycled plastic, embracing circular principles aiming to minimise waste while creating adaptable, long-lasting pieces that are both functional and emotionally resonant. What began as an experimental project crafting surf fins has evolved into a broader exploration of plastic as a meaningful material for the future. For Moinho da Areia, Tiago created a series of custom pieces from recycled plastic: coffee tables for the living room, bold pink door hangers for the kitchen, and towel hooks for the bathrooms. Designed to be useful, durable, and quietly expressive, these objects reflect the potential of design to engage with the circular economy in a tangible, everyday way – proving that even discarded materials can be reimagined as enduring, life-enhancing pieces.