ER Studio | JMG House

in Concept & Competition by editor — 9:45 am | July 9, 20121 comment

The design of a private house in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal, finds the terrain in which it operates as its first conceptual premise. Being the topography characterized by a natural slope facing north and thereby disadvantaged as to the sunlight upon itself, it rises from its own soil a new volume that embraces a courtyard, which is defined by its own natural surroundings.

The proposal is developed in two volumes, two monoliths that contrast between themselves in texture and typology. A volume that is born of the land, intrinsically linked to the privacy of private house dependences, and a second volume, light and pure, which rests on the previous one in order to both confine the domestic space around a courtyard and also benefit from a constant sunlight throughout the day.

Thus, a first volume, dark and raw is born to materialize the private area of housing, like a throwback to the primitive times and its symbolic association of the home as cave/shelter from the elements, but also to address functional issues: the thermal efficiency. Highlighting the typological distribution contrast inside of the dwelling the second volume appears as the common area and provided with a clean and minimal visual language.