Perfect hideaway in Monsaraz
Away from any clichés from typical Portuguese architecture, pure and almost naked as basic elements could be, here is a perfect hideaway by Manuel and Francisco Aires Mateus.
The architects are well established in Portugal with stunning houses in Lisbon (House in Estrela), in Coimbra, in Melides or even abroad in Tournai (Belgium).
In 2010, they presented Casa Areia (houses with sandy floors, picture above) at the Venice Architecture Biennale.
The brothers love building dramatic spaces with a very simple interior, leaving the concrete dressing the interiors. Here is a new example in Monsaraz by the Alqueva Lake.
The house uses the terrain to cast a dome. All the social areas are covered and make the centre of the home.
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.
Somehow I feel a certain connection with Oscar Niemeyer in this structure.
Pictures by João Guimarães, Rui Cardoso, AMA – Aires Mateus.
