House in the Alentejo Coast
Frederico Valsassina

An apparently infinite woodland on the Alentejo coast. Among pine trees and cork oaks, with a total scarcity of reference points, a white and initially pure mass arises from the terrain. The subtraction of a large concentric cylinder results in a slender volume, attuned to the trees and the existing landscape.

The resulting negative, beyond the scale of a courtyard, traces a perfect circle which seeks to embrace a piece of the surrounding scenery, enveloping it, and fully opening up to the vast blue of the Alentejo sky.

The built mass of the house develops on the edge of this circle. What is inhabited is the perimeter, the surrounding area, which narrows or widens according to its relationship with that great empty space.

In this tense and continuous relationship which is established between the exterior and the confining white mass (as in so many of his creations), light is the primary agent in the material definition of volumes, spaces and objects. Each environment and context is moulded and united by that line of light, which harmonises the opposition between the solid and recognisable limit, and that idea of circular absence embracing pine trees, land, and the remaining empty spaces.

The design seeks transparency, and at the same time opacity. This balanced and connecting synergy of contrasts is balanced by intermittent, large (but controlled) openings, where necessary.

The apt and proportionate measure of these openings continuously reframes the inhabitable depth, first, because it invades it, and then because it cancels it out. The act of inhabiting – and its raison d’être – takes form in the fluid complementarity established with the surrounding exterior in its full expanse. The “house volume-external void” aggregate is transformed, becomes inseparable, affirming itself as a unified, coherent and connected whole.

The indelible presence of these extensive glazed areas highlights the building’s quality as a circular border which opens and yet encloses, rupturing it, exploring it, precisely and punctually framing it. Light is apprehended. Nature is revealed. A frank and intense relationship is formed.

With life, and with a sense of time, (in)finite.

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Upon Casa da Música we have neither a distant look neither the author’s look. We have the accomplice look of someone who participated in this adventure as local architects. That is why we do not justify or legitimate the project, but rather seek to read between the lines of its materialization process.

With the outer appearance of a monumental concrete monolith, on the inside Casa da Música is a world of discoveries, filled with spaces reminiscent of the etchings of Piranesi, complex geometries and continually dynamic perspectives. The treatment of surfaces draws on the tension between the pronounced neutrality of the circulation areas and the plastic force of the materials employed in the special-purpose areas. Accordingly, the circulation areas emerge as a necessarily severe and abstract substructure – aluminium-covered walls, ceilings and floors – which underscores the diversity of the remaining materials.

The sub-contracting of the metalwork – a demanding task both in terms of design and of implementation – developed into a fruitful relationship between us, the architects, and the contractors. Even before the contract was awarded, Jofebar’s ambition, responsive attitude and technical ability meant the company was able to put forward constructive solutions, economically optimised and compatible with our plans. This dialogue continued during execution in the form of preparatory drawings and our own comments, in successive revisions undertaken until productivity, compatibility with other work, solidity and quality of the fittings were all assured.

Upon viewing the result, visitors often ask whether the fittings are catalogue items or custom made. In fact, they are made from processed industrial materials. But it was the intensity of the design and implementation stages which conferred on them the machine-like quality of exhaustively tested and improved serial production, combined with the singular accuracy of considered and refined artisanal execution. This is the happy ambivalence we were aiming for.

Jorge Carvalho, architect
aNC arquitectos, local project studio

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