Three Courtyard House | Azeitão – Portugal
The house is located in a small village 25 km south of Lisbon, within the natural park of Azeitão. On a narrow, inherited plot, a couple of agronomists with two children decided to build a new way of living. The design response is a house defined by three internal courtyards, which compensate for the slender shape of the land and shape a domestic experience marked by light, shadow, silence and nature.
The first courtyard sets the house back from the street, creating an intimate threshold that separates domestic life from the movement of the village. The second courtyard, at the centre of the house, is a walled garden around which all the rooms revolve, recalling the Arab tradition of southern Portugal and Andalusia. A small round opening in the floor reveals a special space: an octagonal wine cellar hidden underground, housing a collection of rare wines, some dating back to the nineteenth century.
The third courtyard is an elevated belvedere, open on two sides, overlooking the village and the vineyards on the hills. The botanical choice follows a radical approach: all plants come from wild gathering on the local hills, giving the house an authentic aromatic and Mediterranean character. From the outside the dwelling appears sober, almost anonymous: white walls and few openings. An introverted and discreet architecture, capable of revealing itself only to those who inhabit it.
Year
2015
Architecture Studio
EXTRASTUDIO
