* Residential Architecture: House in Colares by Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos

Residential Architecture: House in Colares by Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos: “..It’s all about a project for a summer home, as a result of an order that from the beginning had precise conditions in terms of program: a big living room, connected to an office area; a service area with space for light meals attached to the kitchen; a private area with two small bedrooms and a suite with an incorporated sauna; a garage with an incorporated workshop space; a swimming pool with a big solarium; well illuminated interior spaces opened over the landscape; Formal soberness and a contained budget were also demanded..The result is a singular house: a volume of regular appearance and of compact reading, marked by big openings towards south and west and by small openings facing north and east, as a clash between the glass box and the white painted concrete box logic. Taking profit of a slight slope on the west side of the lot, the living room opens over a terrace unlevelled over the swimming pool and the solarium. The split between the living room and the bedrooms is made by a covered exterior space, which could be considered as a patio, near the terrace and indirectly linked with the hall..This house, being clearly contemporaneous in its formal approach, is also an attentive and sensible look over the housing phenomena and over the act of conceiving the domestic space. The final proposal, a permanent mark of a personal territory, appears from the logic refinement of this project. By conjugating program, place and time..The program, by the clear sense of will, of tastes, of habits and of living experiences revealed by the client. The resulting space adapted to its users and not the other way around..The place, by understanding the landscape where it is inserted: a few kilometres from the sea, in a dense pine area, spotted by summer houses, (un)lined following twisting paths, where vulgarity prevails alongside a neo-vernacular adherence. In this “locus”, full of tall and slim pine trees, the presence of that house, which shapes, textures and extravagant transparencies are in permanent conflict with the nearby buildings, is a differenced sign, that invents a new place..The time, by reducing to the minimum the formal and composition elements and used materials. The adoption of a project basis assumedly compromised with the contemporaneous rules. The recurring theme of projection plans and faces is the square, which is shown by the openings’ drawing. The duplication or subdivision of this base module, with no risk of becoming an obsession, is subtly contradicted by a series of project decisions, defining the domestic uses and living experiences. It’s the proper fluidness of space organization that differences the functional sectors and defines the boundaries between private and public “territory” within the house. Doors and corridors, frequently used on domestic architecture to circumscribe movements and conditioning looks, are here replaced by an inverted T-shaped space that is extended over the exterior forming a patio..The double axial and convex condition of this space limits circulation between the living rooms and the bedrooms, at the same time, enlarges the visual camps without promoting indiscretions or forcing intimacy. The relations between the physical and visual continuity established between interior and exterior, achieved by the use of big glass windows on the living room and bedrooms’ level, contrast with the intimacy and opacity given to the service area and contribute to the comprehension and clarity of the space logic of this house and of its functionalities..”  Extensive glazing, abundant natural light, pine forest views..

See our posts on three other homes by Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos:

• Residential Architecture: House in Quinta Patino by FVArquitectos
• Residential Architecture: Estoril House by Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos
• Residential Architecture: Casa Do Lago by Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos

designalog : contact

image: © FG+SG; article: Cifuentes , Fabian . “House in Colares / Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos” 01 Nov 2012. ArchDaily. <http://www.archdaily.com/287351&gt;

* Residential Architecture: House in Quinta Patino by FVArquitectos

Residential Architecture: House in Quinta Patino by FVArquitectos: “..portuguese firm frederico valsassina arquitectos has sent images of their latest project, ‘house in quinta patino’ in estoril, portugal..the rectangular footprint arranges the living spaces within a modular arrangement of compartments and openings, integrating outdoor courtyards into the internal configuration. placing all of these habitable spaces inside the four perimeter walls makes a structure which appears larger than it actually is. rectilinear voids within each of the elevations extend the interior rooms to the outside zones and views to the irregular rock cliff which borders the site. mature trees on the property and well as vegetation walls within the open-air voids positioned within the plan. large wooden plank window shutters shield from solar gain or doors seal off interior courtyards for privacy, contrasting with the gray concrete exterior walls when closed or revealing the transparency through the home..an entry path leading to the home terminates within a courtyard. a hall leads to the living and dining area and bathroom on the western side of the plan while the service spaces and kitchen are positioned across a courtyard. a flight of stairs leads to the upper level master suite with an office, closets and bathrooms as well as three suites. all rooms but one have access to a private terrace..”  Ample glazing, natural light; interior and exterior courtyards, terraces; vertical garden walls; interesting materiality..

See our posts on two other homes by frederico valsassina arquitectos:

• Residential Architecture: Estoril House by Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos
• Residential Architecture: Casa Do Lago by Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos

image: © FG+SG, courtesy of FVArquitectos; article: Designboom

designalog : contact

* Residential Architecture: Estoril House by Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos

Residential Architecture: Estoril House by Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos: “..The houses are located within a residential neighborhood of Estoril, in one of the main arteries that connects to the seacoast line. The site is an exiguous lot and mainly longitudinal, with an accentuated slope. The focus of the project was to keep the pre-existant garages while creating two single-family houses that are independent of each other yet facilitate communication between spaces..Two isolated blocks are shown, with different volumes and materials, over a common base that hides, behind a pre-existent stone wall, the former garages. There is a conscious dissonance between the parts that constitute the whole, and the natural concrete and glass lay with a certain austerity over the landscape curves. Both houses look over the road and benefit from their position, surrounded by large terraces at several levels..One house is organized in two levels, separating the social area from the private spaces, and the other house is organized all the compartments in one level, apart from one independent service bedroom and its respective toilet..The surrounding outside space, reduced, is blended with the construction and absorbs its limits. It allows different types of living and permits an important flexibility in its appropriation, whether as a whole, or fractioned. The complex gains a material and immaterial plasticity which are projected over their surroundings as an organic image of Contemporary Architecture..”  Extensive glazing, natural light, views; interesting form; balconies, terraces..

See our post on another home by Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos: Residential Architecture: Casa Do Lago by Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos.

designalog : contact

image: © FG + SG Fotografia de Arquitectura; article: ”Estoril House / Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos” 18 Jul 2011. ArchDaily. <http://www.archdaily.com/150391&gt;