early life and background guilherme elsden, also known as william elsden in english, was a british architect and engineer who left an indelible mark on portugal's architectural landscape. born in london, united kingdom in 1720, elsden's life is shrouded in mystery, with his early years offering little insight into what would become a storied career. career highlights and notable works elsden's professional trajectory began in earnest around 1756, when he started working in portugal. his tenure was marked by several notable projects, including: main façade of the university of coimbra astrono…