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Architects: Miguel Amado Arquitectos
- Area: 97 m²
- Year: 2018
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Photographs:Sofia Dourado
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Manufacturers: BRUMA, Efapel, Ikea, Light & Store, SANTANA, Sanindusa, Sanitana
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Lead Architect: Miguel Ribeiro Amado
Text description provided by the architects. The project focuses on an apartment located in Barreiro, which belonged to the pioneer of Portuguese photography and cinematography, Augusto Cabrita, who used to say during his lifetime that "simplicity was the pinnacle of intelligence."
The apartment is located on the fourth floor and has a view over the Old Barreiro and Lisbon, offering an unobstructed view. After the first visit to the apartment, we became aware of the behavior of light, its presence in the space, the sense of spaciousness it provided, along with the view over the Tagus River, which gave us a feeling of freedom, a kind of invitation to dream.
The proposal resulted from the combination of this perception during the apartment visit and the translation of the idea conveyed by Augusto Cabrita into physical space. In this way, the aim was to reorganize the functions of the spaces, moving the living areas to the zone with a view over the river and placing the sleeping areas in the zone with better sun exposure. This transposition allowed for the aggregation of the more private functions, freeing up the rest of the spaces for social activities, and integrating the circulation areas with the living room. This choice made it possible to create a larger and more expansive living room.
Due to the limited space of the architectural object, the typology was developed in a way that creates a succession of spaces using natural light as the unifying element of the interior spaces of the apartment. The various visual axes guide the person through the architectural spaces, perceived as a unified whole.
All actions, from the choice of materials to the utilization of natural light, furniture, and doors, aim to be simple, while also imbuing the proposal with charisma. This charisma is accentuated by the creation of a rotating door interpreted as a portal, "the Gate," to the realm of dreams. The form and materiality allow light to pass through during the day and become the "source of light" in the house at night. The flooring and wooden profiles were chosen to tell the story of the apartment's past while simultaneously dividing the total space into smaller zones.
