Lar Casa de Magalhaes / Atelier Carvalho Araújo

© Hugo Carvalho Araújo

Architects: Atelier Carvalho Araújo – José Manuel Carvalho Araújo
Location: Ponte de Lima, Portugal
Client: C. M. de Ponte de Lima – Casa do Povo
Design Team: Joel Moniz, Alexandre Branco, Sandra Ferreira, Mónica Peixoto, Liliana Costa, Ana Vilar, Lília Costa, Nuno Vieira, Filipe Russell
Completion: 2010
Photographs: Hugo Carvalho Araújo

© Hugo Carvalho Araújo

Inside a white house lives a lady without progeny. She donates the land, home and attachments to build a home for the elderly. She only requires that the construction be done prior to her death. It all starts from the house; it is the center and the symbol.

© Hugo Carvalho Araújo

The building of the home for the elderly results from the expansion of the platform floor of the existing house. In the center are built two courtyards, one social and one for services, dematerializing the built mass, as if a part of the building had been removed, exposing its interior. You realize there’s life and movement.

© Hugo Carvalho Araújo

Outside, the rhythm of the facade refers to the tree trunks, a blending option, highlighting the existing houses, white-washed.