House Within a Few Lines
House Within a Few Lines
Fala
PROJECT TEAM
Filipe Magalhães, Ana Luisa Soares, Ahmed Belkhodja, Lera Samovich, Ana Lima, Joana Sendas, Anna Murisasco, Carina Pannatier
PHOTOGRAPHS
Francisco Ascensão, Ivo Tavares Studio, Giulietta Margot
AREA
50 M²
LOCATION
Porto, Portugal
YEAR
2020
CATEGORY
Houses
The geometry of a narrow house is settled within a few lines. The intervention happens both in plan projection and in section.
Curved walls are intersected with sinuous ceiling resulting in a space that is not static.
In the evening, multiple folds and creases create a bizarre game of light and shadow.
Open to the back garden, the living room unfolds between the two surfaces. Below, is a turquoise carpet of ceramic tiles, while above, a light green tent of vigorous ceiling—all concealed beneath a slender metal roof.
On the street front, the façade maintains an unassuming presence on the street. It looks like its neighbours but it also does not. It presents itself as a closed wall with a blue door and a small window.
In contrast, the open back façade is an overlay of elements sitting within the whimsical garden: a large opening, accompanied by a concrete beam, a free standing blue column and a bright yellow shutter.
Mirrors conceal chimneys and unwanted thicknesses, rendering the roof paper thin. Bold stripes of black marble frame both elevations. The project presents a possibility for a multifarious house within a limited condition.
The house is staged with a minimum set of elements—some are necessary, some are not—and a precise palette of materials. A concise volume is a disguise for a complex spectacle of its interior spaces.
