Casa Rio is the result of the discovery of the original structure of an old farmhouse located in the village of Gondomar, in a rural area in northern Portugal. During the demolition of the additions built over time, the architects discovered that the farmhouse was originally composed of three small independent houses built according to the needs of the time.
The rediscovered shape: a renovated rural house in Portugal
Paulo Merlini Architects rediscovered the original tripartite form of Casa Rio during demolition and took it as a starting point for a contemporary reinterpretation of the old farmhouse.
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- Bianca Pichler
- 14 January 2021
- Gondomar, Portugal
- PAULO MERLINI architects
- 350 sqm
- Single Family House
- 2020
This discovery was taken as the starting point for the renovation of the rural building and a contemporary reinterpretation of the spaces in the house. The geometry of the three original independent volumes is maintained, but unified on the ground floor by means of a stone platform. On the upper floor this platform is converted into a green roof, a raised garden between the "houses".
The form of the building is thus resolved in its functional partitioning and in its material connotation: pure, smooth white volumes housing the bedrooms rest on the rough stone basement housing the common areas. A rectangular patio pierces the base, flooding with light the heart of the home.
In the interiors the ground floor maintains the materiality of the exteriors, conveying the feeling of living inside a granite excavated mass, while maintaining a strong relationship with the outside space through large windows overlooking the garden. On the upper floor instead, the geometries of the pure white volumes, the shutters and the wooden floors recreate the atmosphere of a typical Portuguese country house.
- Casa Rio
- Casa unifamiliare
- Gondomar, Portogallo
- PAULO MERLINI architects
- Paulo Merlini / André Santos Silva
- 350 sqm
- 2020
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