Rachel Coutinho graduated as an architect in 1977 at the School of Architecture and Urbanism at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (FAU/UFRJ). She holds a master’s degree in Regional Planning (1984) and a Ph.D (1988) from Cornell University, USA. She was an academic visitor in the Cities Program at the London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE, UK, (2007-2009), where she has developed a research about planning and design strategies for areas subjected to urban violence and conflict. She has a professional practice in urbanism, tourism and regional planning. She is a Full Professor at FAU-UFRJ, where she is a faculty member from 1992 to 2017, and of the Graduate Program in Urbanism since 1994 (PROURB/FAU/UFRJ). She teaches at the undergraduate and graduate levels and conducts research and supervision of masters and doctoral students in the areas of Theory and History of Urbanism, Urban Design and Planning, and Tourism Planning. She served as a chairman of PROURB/FAU-UFRJ from 2000 to 2001. From 2002 to 2005 she joined the faculty of the newly created Course of Architecture and Urbanism of PUC-Rio, and became its first chairman. She is a research fellow of National Research Council (CNPq), and coordinates the Laboratory of Urbanism and the Built Environment (LAURBAM) in PROURB. She was the recipient of the Prize Scientist of Rio de Janeiro State from the State Research Foundation of Rio de Janeiro (2000-2011, 2015-2017, 2018-2020). She edited the book “A cidade pelo avesso: desafios do urbanismo contemporâneo” and co-edited “Urbanismo em Questão”. Acted as the Chairman of the Graduate Program in Urbanism at the School of Architecture and Urbanism, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2001-2002 & 2010-2013). Currently she is a faculty member of the Department of Architecture and Urbanism and the Chairman of the Graduate Program in Architecture of Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio).

Chair of Graduate Program in Architecture