The design of the school building in Portugal starts from the imaginary of the treehouse, where the main idea of being in contact with nature and discovery, allows to stimulate learning from a concept that meets the methodology used in school.

Casa da Árvore appears as one of the first moments in which children have contact with the world of architecture in relation to nature.

The idea of connecting ​​classrooms to outer space was the starting point for the development of this project. This premise, coupled with large windows, allowed to create classrooms where the interior space appears as an extension of the exterior, thus creating a strong connection with nature.

The patios and porches allow children to fully use the space, and the structure itself was designed as an integral part of the patio furniture.

The choice of materials used is in accordance with the concept of the project, where the use of natural cork as a cladding material in the eaves connects us with nature. The stereotomy itself was crafted like pieces of a puzzle, creating a rhythm on the façade that allows for different appropriations and movements. The concrete of the walls was treated in a particular way, almost alluding to the roots of the trees, where you can see the inert materials that make up and support the structure resting on a pavement in earth tones that reinforces the imagery of the Casa da Árvore.

Contaminar Arquitetos

Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

The post Casa da Árvore was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

In Portugal, spaceworkers built a house in exposed concrete, whose monolithic architecture has a clear and rational layout, in contrast to its apparently random configuration.

The client’s wishes were for the house to be built in an “L” shape. Developing an original identity and finding an answer to this request was the main inspiration for the approach, elaborated in an almost imperceptible way. The distribution of spaces was done with clarity and rationality, without the morphological obviousness hidden in the tenuous movement of the elements developing along two streets that flank the volumetry.

Façade design and materiality

The main façades of this irregular monolith are made of exposed concrete with wooden formwork, composed by a succession of opaque, crude and hermetic volumes that close the house to the public exterior. For the interior of the lot, the volume is torn in order to enjoy the light and the garden, ensuring privacy facing the street.

Layout design and program

The program of the house is distributed over a series of consecutive volumes, as in a game of embedded pieces, almost playful. Each of the volumes presents different functions, heights and depths creating a unique spatial dynamic, and emphasizing a new reading of an “L” shaped house. New visual relationships are created between the full and the empty, between the private, semi-private areas and the view of the central garden space where the pool is also located.

The project for a couple with two children is an ode to the resident’s privacy. From the outside, the North side is obscure and closed: from the street it is only possible to identify two openings (one of them 5 meters high) to see the sky and the other from the bedrooms leading to the inner courtyard. On the other hand, the rest of the light is brought by the large interior feature of the volume that illuminates the house from one end to the other, is related as well to the garden and the pool.

The main access to the house is marked by a cantilevered volume that levitates over the entrance, with an imposing ceiling height that prioritizes the volume of access vis-à-vis the entire monolith. This suspended block reinforces the idea of antigravity which, following the rigid volumes, when actually entering the house, contrasts with a large plane of glass that subtly, lightly and balanced connects the outside with the view of the garden.

Next to the entrance and close to the common area, there’s a study used for the owners’ frequent meetings, with being a semi-public area, carefully preserves the family’s intimacy in the areas of the main room, social room and kitchen areas and services.

A multipurpose space was designed for the youngsters, which is currently used as a playroom, with the particularity that the light entrance is on a level close to the floor, thus allowing them to be able to see the garden when they are seated playing. And in the future, when the space is used as a study room, this light entry is not a distraction.

The four rooms are continuous and with independent access to the garden and the pool, maintaining the indoor/ outdoor relationship without exposing its users. The bathrooms, in turn, are illuminated with zenith light through 3 rectangular skylights present in 3 bedrooms. The closets accompany the volumetric play of the house between the different scales and heights of each block.

In the master suite, two volumes of different scales are joined by a small interior patio that brings a little bit of nature into the house and accompanies the transition between the master bedroom, the bathroom, and the dressing room.

spaceworkers

The post Casa MF was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

Casa na Caniçada is located in a densely wooded area next to the Caniçada reservoir, in Vieira do Minho (Portugal). In the adjacent space, the intervention was minimized in order to preserve the density of the vegetation, ensuring the feeling of protection provided by the natural surroundings of the land.

The volumetry of the existing building was the starting point for the definition of a new volume that consists of three floors, where a traditional single-family housing program is distributed. The most intimate program is located on the highest floor, while the social program is spread over the remaining two.

Carvalho Araújo

The post Casa na Caniçada was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

This house was designed around the premise that, in such a special place, architecture could not ever compete or obstruct the nature around it. To fulfill that goal, the building was placed to be as close as possible to the century-old oaks and chestnuts without touching them. The house is reached from above and placed in a sharp slope; this combination of factors places the eye level of the habitants in line with the top of the trees, in perpetually shifting colors and movement motivated by the wind.

Located in north of Portugal, where vegetation is both dense and ever changing, this house aims at getting better connected to the nature; in the short period of construction, vines start to take control and the higher branches are already touching the glass: the fusion has started.

From the inside that connection is obvious: the exterior walls are all transparent and it is the furniture that defines the living spaces among in open floor plan. Through the different spaces, it is always possible to see the vegetation outside.

João Marques Franco

Primeiro Plano Audiovisual

The post Treetop House was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

Built for a family of five in a small plot, at the south of a complex of multifamily housing buildings, the house is located in Restelo, near Belém. The neighborhood comprises single-family houses disposed in an amphitheater shape towards the Tagus river. The site is on the north limit of this set, in the transitional area between the two-storey housing and multifamily buildings with 4 floors.

The south facade of the house is the “face” of the long housing block; a monolith in exposed concrete that develops on four floors, seeking to establish different relationships with the water tank, the garden, and the view towards the river.

A conventional program for a large family is spread over all four floors. The ground floors accommodate the social areas, and the last two floors are reserved for the private areas. The ground floor is recessed from the main body of the house, creating a garden. This floor contains a family room, guest bedroom, storage, technical areas, and laundry. The entrance floor, where the living room and kitchen are located, uses a generous balcony that opens upon the garden and the water tank. The first floor contains the 3 children’s bedrooms organized around a patio, a gathering space. The top floor contains the bedroom and other spaces for the parents, ending on a generous balcony, a belvedere looking towards the river.

Pedro Domingos Arquitectos

The post House in Restelo was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The house is visible from the road, on a small hill, with a dark silhouette in sharp contrast to its natural environment, offering a wide view over Santo Tirso. Its simple lines are the reinterpretation of the stereotype of the traditional Portuguese house, gable roof.

The architects started by defning a northeast-southeast axis in the longitudinal direction of the land, oriented towards the best view. The main volume is aligned to this orientation and, in a playful reconfguration of the traditional house, it becomes remarkable in the landscape. A smaller volume is attached to the main one, completing the programmatic requirements of housing, as an allusion to the traditional annexes to the main house.

This volume begins from the entrance of the lot to create a kind of external decompression atrium. In the simplicity of the composition of these two volumes, an intuitive understanding of spaces is promoted, inviting us to enter.

In terms of the program’s distribution, the reception lobby is the first point of contact with the house, leading to the centrally located common areas: dining room, living room and kitchen. Spacious and generous, with lots of natural light, the common area is enhanced by negative space which is used as the extension to the outside pool and dining room, taking advantage of the rhythmic play of light in the afternoon.

This central block also separates two spaces that were meant to be independent from the outset: the southeast, housing the private area, where a corridor distributes the rooms and a small office, all equipped with exterior spaces accessible through glass doors that balance the visual and physical connections to the landscape of each room; the northeast, accommodating the technical areas of housing and work, with double height. Above those two areas, the traditional shape of the gable roof allowed the creation of a place for reading and studying, on a mezzanine.

Due to the simplicity of its interior design, with light, and minimalist smooth walls, the house offers a peaceful living space. This comes in contrast to the dark exterior, where the black plant tile and pine slats, together with the simple shape of the building, create a striking graphic silhouette against the landscape.

Hous3

The post Santo Tirso House was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The project was developed at Povo, in the outskirts of Leiria, Portugal; an area where rocky elements, limestone lands, irregular topographies and sharp contrasts dominate the landscape. Thus arises the idea of a cave: An austere, carved and denticulated refuge that is humanized by its occupants. This premise is a tribute to the beginnings of humanity and its symbiotic relationship with the environment it inhabits; it contains in itself the paradox of the perennial and harsh stone that becomes a natural and maternal refuge.

The project is marked by a multiplicity of circuits that order spaces with harmony and simplicity through a central element: light, which interacts breaking the primitive elements and the sinuous lines with subtlety.

The program for this 3 bedroom house was divided in two and a half floors, where a patio distributes, arranges and connects both the interior spaces and the exterior paths. The main access involves the existing pine forests and frames the vegetation between its walls at sharp angles. This structure at the entrance uses a double height space of generous proportions to connect with the livingroom and to allow the view of the north / west landscape, but also provide light and heat from the south-facing patio, that is adapted to the irregularity of the terrain. From the living room there is access to a concrete balcony, a space for contemplating the sunsets.

On a different level, an external access leads to the office, distinguished by the wide glass opening. This division is half a floor above and also leads to the roof that provides a 360º degree view of the surroundings. From here it is possible to circulate through another ramp connected to the patio and to a private secondary access that allows visitors to access the office directly without going through the house.

Casa Povo respects and adapts to the terrain, differentiates itself in a subtle and delicate way, maintaining a harmonious relationship between the public and the private. The spatial distribution and volume of the rooms follow and reflect the topography of different levels. The soft elevation ramp allows direct access to the patio, the living room and the kitchen, connecting all elements both inside and outside.

The creation of an internal garden with ramps gives the project the necessary integration, in addition to the almost playful sensorial expression used by children with the interconnection of the garden to the roof, allowing a permeability of the cave with the frameworks that section the spaces built with the garden.

Underneath the office, halfway through the room is the service area with connection to the outside. The solution allows light and natural ventilation through the gaps between each level of the staircase that connects the balcony of the room to the office on the upper floor.

The need to connect spaces creates a strong narrative of spatial distribution and fulfills its function while guiding the rhythm and composition of the shape of the architectural object.

The exposed concrete with, wooden slatted formwork, is the predominant constructive element on the facades and follows a monolithic volumetry, providing the protection that inspires it: a humanized cave.

Contaminar Arquitetos

Fernando Guerra – FG + SG

The post Casa Povo was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The design brief started with a premise from the client: A space for many books. Immediately, the architects’ imaginary drifted to the many classical renaissance libraries, with sliding stairs that reach the book stacks. The intervention designated a high space, with a clearly established hierarchy between the interiors.

The volumetric composition corresponds to the functional differentiation of the interior spaces, creating a roof as a restless mass with different heights. The roof also figures itself in a fifth façade.

The density and weight of the monolithic cover roof needed to be subverted and the idea of a levitating mass was introduced, resting upon slender wooden frames and glass. The resulting feeling of compression reminds users of their own scale as humans and evokes the ancestral importance of the shelter.

Time, always an important architectural component, becomes essential in the design of this project. The built elements – especially those in concrete – record the passage of time through their formwork texture. This formwork, similar in its variations to the roof skyline, features protrusions and recesses, generating changing shadows during the different hours of the day and giving a dramatic appearance to the facades. As time passes, the textured concrete will naturally age and will be more integrated in the rural surroundings. The same will happen to the wooden base, which will age beautifully, adding to the impression of the house.

Spaceworkers

The post Casa da Agrela was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The 270-degree glass structure of this cabin is nestled into the rock and stands a bit in front of the cliff, provoking the sense of “impossible architecture”. Just like a lighthouse, it is confronting the sea breeze on everyday basis.

This project, now under construction, was developed as a holiday home for a surfer, who is no stranger to a confrontation with the powerful element of nature – the air. As an archetype of this cabin, the architects took an ancient lighthouse, standing unwaveringly at the very edge of the earth and indicating a safe passage for ships.

The idea behind this minimalistic cliff cabin is to create a feeling of weightlessness of the architecture overlooking the ocean. However, the building, which is set on a vertical pillar and secured with a foundation made of recycled concrete, is absolutely equilibrated.

The central pillar takes up small internal space and, at the same time, includes most engineering and communications, maximizing the view over Atlantic Ocean. Privacy is achieved by an integrated system of window blinds around the perimeter.

Minimalist open-concept interior of a 48 sq. m. cabin includes only an essential furniture. Warm beige theme provides homely vibes and cosiness independently the weather and “mood” of the ocean outside. Functional zones – living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom – invisibly flow from one to another.

Stylistically, there is a combination of modern style with geometrical shapes and live primitive design: straight lines, rounded forms of sofas, round lamps, straw panels as surface of the wall, roughly processed logs, ceramic decor, low dining chairs. All the furniture is down to earth avoid overlapping the dramatic view. The bathroom privacy preserved by usage of a special glass with transparency adjustment.

Yakusha Design

Serhiy Chornousov

The post The Air was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.