PhD in Scenography and Architecture from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon, where he has been teaching since 1982, as well as at the Faculty of Fine Arts.
His work is notable for its diversity as well as the interdisciplinary nature of the areas it encompasses, such as Scenography for the Performing Arts and Exhibitions/Museology, Theatre Architecture and Painting.
José Manuel Castanheira has conceived sets for over 250 shows in 15 countries. The Centre Georges Pompidou-Paris, in 1993, and the Almada International Theatre Festival, in 105, have held retrospective shows of his work.
In 1995, he was invited to be part of the international jury at the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, and in 2015 he was one of the curators of the Portuguese representation. In 2001 he was invited by the Union of the Theatres of Europe to run the Scenography Masters 3rd workshop, in Barcelona.
He has coordinated training sessions, internships and seminars in universities and other institutions in Portugal, Spain, Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Cuba, Switzerland and Brazil.
In Exhibition Scenography he has conceived devices for the following shows, among others: No Tempo em Que os Animais Falavam – Fábulas de La Fontaine (Fundação Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Porto-1994-95) Portuguese Pavilion (Expo ’98, Lisbon), Peregrinação – O Voo da Cegonha (Expo ’98, Lisbon), Anti-galeria (ARCO, Madrid, 2001), É Proibido Proibir! (MUDE, Lisbon, 2009) and Um Homem Chamado Romeu Correia (Almada, 2017). In 2002 he designed the sets for João César Monteiro’s film VAI-VEM.
He is the European coordinator for the Latin American Theatres project sponsored by OISTAT/UNESCO – International Organization of Scenographers, Technicians, and Theatre Architects.