PASTE -- House in Leiria, Aires Mateus (2010)
the premise
This project further understands the design intentions of the precedent -- House in Leiria, and intervenes by the addition of a “room”, with the objective of completing and activating spaces within the framework of the original.
Directed circulation is broken into a more connected network with an additional landing, within the concealment of the interior complexity, rendering the interior spatial connection to be more dynamic and porous. The initially neutral, cold central void is activated with the added balcony, thus completing the idea of the courtyard space as the central connection between levels.
the gesture
Within the labyrinthine structure, the studio is a “dead end” which only connects with the central void visually. A level change is induced to bridge between the main level and the loft, extruding into the central void and placing the new “room” at the core of the house, both in terms of physical and visual accessibility. Internally, the interaction between floors is also enhanced by the shearing of spaces.
The same gesture is expressed in the exterior by introducing a third opening of the massing of the house as the byproduct, allowing more light into the lower level and improving ventilation. Although breaking the solidity of the walls, it retains privacy of the inhabitants.
the inhabitation
The room, as a children playroom, is placed at the center of the young family, seen from most corners of the house. Alternative access to the more compressed space defines the program, and completes the circulation and interaction between different interior negative spaces.
the visualization
The labyrinthine interior is expressed at the vertical scale and complicates the spatial strata pre-existing in the house. The balcony of the new room is brought visible from afar, giving a new hierarchy to the spaces within the house. In essence, the new room completes, connects and activates the entire house through a subtle shifting and shear of space.
Project 2, Undergraduate Studio 1 | 2020
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor | Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning
