LANDSCAPES IN PORTUGAL
The house is on the north coast of Portugal near the sea, and it is a rectangular building that extends in an east-west direction.
The building was designed and built like a long transparent view, with large sliding doors and steel profiles that design the façade with very clean and simple lines: on the ground floor a series of windows and on the first floor an alternating rhythm of windows and jutting masonry work, while the north façades are all masonry work with no windows.
The interiors follow a very rational layout of the spaces: there is a large lounge, dining hall, kitchen, billiard room, swimming pool and services on the ground floor and a library, study and bedrooms on the first floor.
The living room is the heart of the house and is a large open space with steel pillars, one of which holds the fireplace and the other the television.
A large glazed partition divides the lounge from the beautiful swimming pool giving visual continuity between the areas.
A gallery has been designed on the ground floor overhanging the space beneath to form new rooms: it holds the library and the art gallery which is brilliantly illuminated by the large steel-framed windows.
Given the size of the windows only steel could be considered for the frames, as it is the only material able to support such large heavy panes, to give long life and guaranteed strength to the house with such large glazed areas, often without any masonry work.
In fact the windows are the distinguishing feature of the entire project, as they give transparency and light to the spaces and create a continuous dialogue with the surrounding landscape.
Marzia Urettini
Acciaio Arte Architettura 37 – March 2009
Photographs:
Raul Candales Franch – www.fotofranch.com
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