vitória 233
2006 | Porto
Any work in an existing structure involves understanding its context and its capacity to be transformed. The moment has come to build a layer of time to add to all the other overlapping and even contradictory layers. The interior spaces of this new habitat were articulated through intuition and maturity in view of the potential of the existing construction.
The building is on three levels but only two are above street level. The lowest level follows the contours of the steep hill into which the house is set and opens on to a rear terrace at the rear. This level only has a living room and a technical area. The bedrooms and bathrooms are upstairs at entrance level. The top level is reserved for spaces of greater permanency such as the living areas and the kitchen. The space is characterised by the high ceiling and the wooden structure of the roof which has been left bare.
White unites walls and ceilings; black can be seen on furniture panels, and the warm honey color of Riga wood clothes the floor. Rooms in old houses have an extraordinary capacity for reinvention. This creative living method infected the way in which we thought up this idea of living in an open, flowing pattern of discreet spatial transitions.
An intermittent system in which to live and also to work. And from here, be open to the city.
awards:
publications:
photography:
Gold Medal in BIENAL DE ARQUITECTURA MIAMI+BEACH 2009, EUA, on the category "Interior Design/Residential" | Assigned by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and by the Pan-American Federation of Architects Associations (PAFAA)
ESAP Magazine | Maison et Travaux Magazine | Living City Magazine | Coelho da Silva Porfolio
Luís Ferreira Alves