José Marini Bragança was born in 1956. He studied at Lourenço Marques, now Maputo, Mozambique. In 1980, he finished the School of Architecture, University of Lisbon.
He collaborated in the projects for Lisbon Airport’s Aerogare 2 and in the Agrarian School of Bragança. In 1981, he established his own office, and in 1985 he moved to Leiria. He worked for the City Council until 1993 and, among other; he designed the Arrabalde da Ponte Detail Plan, the Mercado Santana revamp project and the project for 20 pre-primary schools.