A small house into a very old and small granite shack, with a slightly distorted floor plan, a prominent sloped roof, and an "exuberant tower" attached to the main volume, are the main characteristics of this project in Amarante (a municipality and municipal seat in the Tâmega e Sousa subregion in northern Portugal), designed by architecture studio Fala Atelier.
A residential proposal at the edge of a beautiful garden. The small, single bedroom house has a "monumental shower" into the new tower, "making a courageous formal statement."
 
"A monumental object for a non-monumental program," says Fala Atelier on its project statement.
 

Project description by Fala Atelier

Conceiving a house within a very old and small granite shack, with a slightly distorted plan and a prominent sloped roof, at the edge of a beautiful garden.

Each level is a single space with a delicate spiral staircase connecting both floors. The living area occupies the ground floor, relating to the surrounding gardens; the bedroom fits under the sloped roof, facing the views.

The only added volume is an exuberant tower bluntly attached to the main volume. The new object is a superimposed element that fits a small bathroom downstairs and a strikingly tall shower above. The interior has its complexities and circumstances. A curved wall on the first floor is introduced to hold both pieces together, hide technical pipes and some storage, as well as to cause a subtle distortion of the bedroom. The inside spaces are defined with a simple palette of materials – white walls, striped wooden floors, fractions of white marble and mint-green carpentries. A nice house to live in.

From the outside, the ambiguous pattern of white and pink triangles makes an obvious contrast between the two actors. The outward expression is dominated by this exuberant pattern and the new thin metal roof flying above the granite piece. The texture of the granite walls is kept and all the doors and window frames are refreshed with colour.

The tall tower is standing in paradoxical independence, refusing to be serious, making a courageous formal statement. A monumental object for a non-monumental program.

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in a house too tiny to include bathrooms, the extension acts as an exclamation mark, proudly tall.

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Architects
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Project Team
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Filipe Magalhães, Ana Luisa Soares, Ahmed Belkhodja, Costanza Favero, Ana Lima, Joana Sendas, Paulo Sousa.
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Builder company
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Ruce Lda
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Area
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55m²
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Dates
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2018
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Photography Fotografía
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Fala Atelier is a naïve architecture practice based in Porto, led by Filipe Magalhães, Ana Luisa Soares and Ahmed Belkhodja. Established in 2013, the atelier works with methodic optimism on a wide range of projects, from territories to birdhouses.

Filipe Magalhães (Porto, 1987) graduated in architecture at faculdade de arquitectura do Porto and Fakulteta za Arhitekturo in Ljubljana; wrote the thesis ‘between the abstract and the figurative’. Worked with Harry Gugger in Basel and Aanaa in Tokyo. Visiting professor at Bratislava’s faculty of architecture.

Ana Luisa Soares (Porto, 1988) graduated in architecture at faculdade de arquitectura do Porto and Tokyo university; wrote the thesis ‘The matter of ideas’. Worked with Harry Gugger in Basel and Toyo Ito in Tokyo. Visiting professor at Bratislava’s faculty of architecture.

Ahmed Belkhodja (Lausanne, 1990) graduated in architecture at ETH Zurich after having also studied in Lausanne, Gothenburg and Singapore; worked with Harry Gugger in Basel, Obra architects in New York, and Atelier Bow-wow in Tokyo.
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Published on: March 14, 2020
Cite: "A monumental object for a non-monumental program. A small house by Fala Atelier" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/a-monumental-object-a-non-monumental-program-a-small-house-fala-atelier> ISSN 1139-6415
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