Renato de Albuquerque is a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian civil engineer

Civil engineer

A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...

 and entrepreneur

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

 in the construction

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

 and real state businesses. He was the founder of a pioneering construction firm, Albuquerque & Takaoka

Albuquerque & Takaoka

Albuquerque & Takaoka is one of the most significant and active architecture, civil engineering and real estate development private companies of São Paulo, Brazil...

 in 1951 together with his fellow architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 and friend Yojiro Takaoka. Both had studied at the University of São Paulo Polytechnic School, graduating in 1949.

Together with Takaoka, Albuquerque is responsible for the creation of the first vertical and the first horizontal walled condominium

Condominium

A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...

s in Brazil. The Alphaville

Alphaville, São Paulo

Alphaville is the commercial name of a real estate and gated communities development in Brazil and Portugal, constituted by a number of business and residential condominia. The name evokes the "first among cities" concept...

 concept was widely copied throughout Brazil and is a very successful enterprise, currently with more than 20 locations in Brazil and Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

. In October 2006, Alphaville was purchased by Gafisa S.A.

He is also the editor-in-chief of the Alpha Magazine and president of the Alphaville Foundation, a charity

Charitable organization

A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...

 and not-for-profit NGO. He is an honorary citizen of Campinas

Campinas

Campinas is a city and municipality located in the coastal interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. is the administrative center of the meso-region of the same name, with 3,783,597 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, consisting of 49 cities....

 and Barueri

Barueri

Barueri is a Brazilian city in the state of São Paulo located in the northwestern part of the Greater São Paulo metropolitan area. The population in 2006 is estimated to be 265,549, the population density is 4,149.2 per km² and the area of 64 km²....

.