Gustavo Penna graduated in 1973 from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), where he studied with renowned professors Humberto Serpa, Rafael Hardy and Cuno Maurício Lussy, and where he later taught for three decades. In 1974, Penna founded the architecture office that still occupies the same centennial, eclectic-style house that once belonged to his grandparents, on Álvares Cabral Av., downtown Belo Horizonte. In that inspiring building, a team of 30 professionals think, design and build under the assurance that architecture is key to shaping the identity of a country.