Lisbon based Phdd arquitectos designed minimalist House in Caramão da Ajuga in Lisbon, Portugal.
Photography © Francisco Nogueira
The Caramão neighborhood in Lisbon, was built between 1940 and 1945 on the slope of Ajuda facing the Tagus and above the Restelo neighborhood.
Along with other social housing in Lisbon, such as Caselas, this neighborhood was designed to represent small villages that provided, in the style of adjustment, a similar type of life of the more humble part of society, to which they were accustomed to and also occupied at the date of its construction.
It is characterized by townhouses of two floors with about 40m2 each and two backyards. One in front, smaller, and the other in the back, that is, mostly, a good part of each plot.
Characterized by very small and compartmentalized spaces the main challenge of these houses is the adaptation to a contemporary experience and the need for larger spaces with a relationship with the outside.
The project was developed based on an organizational principle of hierarchically house, floors. Each floor corresponds to a particular program so that the areas could be exploited to the maximum, generating spaces with quality.
The organization and distribution of spaces was based on the idea of privacy and garden usage for the social spaces of the house.
The project adapts the existing construction to a contemporary house respecting the morphology of the neighborhood and the characteristic front elevation.
The intervention is mainly made in the back of the house with the addition of a volume with 3 levels, which increases the area to the double.
On the ground floor of house after the entrance, we can find the living room, dining room and kitchen. A large and continuous space that leads you into the garden.
In the basement floor we can find a bathroom and an office open to a patio and in the upper level bedrooms and a bathroom also open to the patio.
Opening yards, strategically placed inside the house, ensures the legally required areas, good lighting and privacy of the close and friendly neighbours.
Source: Phdd arquitectos
