House on the slope of Montaria by José Manuel Carvalho Araújo
19/01/2016.
[Viana do Castelo] Portugal
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
A narrow swimming pool, 30-square-meter pool, the roof of this concrete house in northern Portugal, designed by local studio Carvalho Araújo to exploit views of the countrified landscape in Serra d'Arga. The material, shape and tectonics of the buildings remember us the current Brazilian architects, and it is no coincidence. José Manuel Carvalho Araújo has his office not only in Portuguese Braga city, but also in São Paulo.
Description of project by Carvalho Araújo
The shelter is located on a steep terrain on the edge of the village, with a privileged view over the Serra d’Arga mountains. The building should occupy the space of the existing ruin, be small, compact and have a pool.
There are images of villages and farms that we retain since ever. The first image that we associate to the terrain and the place is the water tank: public or private, they served to wash, water supply or even to the more or less illegal child’s adventures. Above all they were an important meeting point, a workplace and an important symbol of community life.
The pool has assumed particular relevance in the design, searching in its relationship with the terrain the image of the old tanks. The steep slope of the land allowed to accommodate the shelter at the bottom of the pool volume, composed by a living room/kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom. The elementary program was organized around an interior courtyard that provides lighting and ventilation to the rooms.
CREDITS. DATA SHEET.-
Architecture.- Carvalho Araújo
Landscape.- JBJC – João Bicho e Joana Carneiro, Arquitetura Paisagista
Structures/hydraulics.- Pedro Alves
Electrical.- INOVOLT
Acoustics.- Diogo Mateus
Contractor.- José Castro & Filhos
Carvalho Araújo, based in Braga (Portugal) and Sao Paulo (Brazil), Carvalho Araújo’s studio is committed to the search and reflection of different approaches in the fields of architecture, product design and creative direction, trying to combine the design practice with a more strategic view. The projects and products Carvalho Araújo are characterized by elegance and a formal containment attitude, emphasizing the quality of design, proportions and materials. The design is no reason for exhibitionism, but rather a perfectly rational and simultaneously poetic act.
Both in architecture as in the design fields, rather than respond to a specific program or application, it is important for us to question the problems from a formal and strategic point of view, either in the markets but also (in the case of architectural projects) its scale, uses and interaction with the place. The stabilization of a working team that operates in proximity areas translates into a studio’s posture and flexibility that allows us to present the client with a strategical and conceptually clear “final product”.
Your studio has a multidisciplinary team composed by architects, product designers, communication designers and image. Simultaneously we establish specific partnerships for each project, in order to present the customer with a global solution.