To Retire is project is envisioned as a refuge within the Alentejo landscape, comprising a series of interventions to pre-existing structures. The program is conceived as an opportunity to establish a deeper, more meaningful relationship with the surrounding environment.
The refuge aspires to blend seamlessly with the landscape, evoking a sense of boundless continuity where spatial boundaries dissolve into the horizon. The windows, metaphorically likened to eyes, reflect the dynamic ways in which one perceives the exterior. At times, they create uninterrupted visual continuity, reminiscent of Mies van der Rohe’s perspective drawings, dissolving the boundary between inside and outside. In other instances, a framed square window isolates a specific view, such as an olive tree, transforming it into a focal point. This approach reinforces the concept of the house as not merely an interior, but as an extension of the entire plot, where the shadow of a tree can define space just as effectively as walls.
The architectural expression responds to this ongoing dialogue with the land and local culture, infusing the otherwise anonymous language of the existing structures with a more figurative and expressive character. Just as the carefully positioned 'eyes'—the windows—are crucial for perceiving the exterior, the form in which the new structures are perceived is equally significant. The recognizable figures foster a sense of empathy through self-recognition, creating a constellation where house, plot, and inhabitants are interwoven into a singular, cohesive whole.
The newly introduced volumes are akin to characters arriving late to a narrative already in progress—one with an open-ended conclusion, inviting further evolution and interpretation.
2022
Location: Alter do Chão, Portugal
Programme: Agriculture & Dwelling
Surface: 100m2
Status: in construction
Client: Private