12.5.2022
House in Monsaraz
Faced with the boundless extents of the Alqueva lake, the house requires a centre: a protected courtyard embracing the water.
[info]House in Monsaraz
Authors: Aires Mateus
Location: Monsaraz Alqueva Lake, Alentejo, Portugal
Cliente: Private
Date of project: 2007 – 2009
Date of construction: 2010 – 2018
Built area: 174 m²
Site area: 21 100 m²
Project leader: Inês Cordovil, Helga Constantino
Collaborators: Humberto Silva, André Passos, Susana Rodrigues, Joana Simões
Interior design: Maria Rebelo Pinto
Engineering: AFAconsult
Constructor: JDS, Manuel Mateus Frazão
Landscaping: Filipa Cardoso Meneses
Photos: © Aires Mateus – Construction, © Joao Guimaraes, © Nelson Garrido, © Rui Cardoso[/info]
It uses the terrain to cast a dome that covers the social areas and is the life centre of the house. An inverted dome intersects it and creates an opening that lights the space, shaping its precise geometry and limits. The bedrooms open onto circular patios. Amid a wide natural landscape, the scale of the house is that of the patios and superior dome. They are the sole visible elements, painted in radiant white.
){kind=link}