Fala Atelier archivos - Global Spaces

House with Many Faces

Jordi Costa — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 09:47:01 +0000

Architects: Fala Atelier Photography: Francisco Ascensão Matilde Viegas Rory Gardiner Construction Period: 2022 Location: Porto, Portugal

An oversized house is barely a house. the very long narrow plot used to accommodate shabby offices and a spacious warehouse. a fearless client aimed at transforming this clutter into a home. a soon-to-be living room could easily have a dozen cars parked in there.

The structure of the existing building suggests two parts. a conventional front facing the street is an object on its own that has a dull facade, two levels and a disarray of rooms, while the back part is a vast space under a gable roof supported by heavy wooden beams.

The project is conceived as a series of cuts across the lengthy perimeter. five facets are reassessed and introduced to order the extensive space. The two parts are now separated by an inner courtyard. The building in front takes in a series of small apartments, dividing the space with several slight gestures. The warehouse simply turns into a massive living room that is then interrupted by one curved wall. A proper kitchen and a monumental fireplace are the only hints of uncertain domesticity.

The five facets are addressed as a gang of elevations. each has a character of its own but they share apparent similarities. A grid of black dots attempts to make sense of the concrete structures and defines the figure of the facades.

Reoccurring pairs of windows, yellow doors, green shutters and surfaces of glass brick correspond to intricate rooms, devise tense compositions and charismatic personas. the former warehouse is a house of many faces.

Text provided by the architects.

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House with a curved wall

Jordi Costa — Sun, 15 Jan 2023 18:36:49 +0000

Architects: Fala Atelier Photography: Ricardo Loureiro Construction Period: 2017 Location: Oporto, Portugal

The derelict construction was found on an unremarkable neighbourhood, hiding a deep and generous garden; the proud pitched roof distinguished the otherwise trivial architecture.

After reseting the construction to a bare structural existence, the inner space was solved with the precise placement of a gently curved wall as a separation between the public and private programs. The intersection of the existing walls, the sloped roof and the new wall resulted in a complex geometrical form. Through the new wide window, a clear tension towards the picturesque garden was created.

The main space, loosely populated by furniture, showcases four blue doors (leading to the small lobby, bedroom, bathroom or attic), a circular opening, various plants and an elegant metal pole that symbolically marks the highest point of the otherwise humble construction. A selected number of elements – doors, kitchen and furniture – were painted in strong colours contrasting with the general abstract whiteness of the room.

The wall facing the street was plastered and the entrance door painted in heavy salmon-pink; the greenish-blue gate, when closed, completes the deconstructed composition. A thin metal surface extends over the white volume as if made of paper: the light metal roof becomes the prominent urban element defining the image of the house, its houseness. While the interiors form a unity characterised by whiteness and precision, the outside expression is that of a loose juxtaposition of constructive elements. Ultimately the house is a rather conventional building, but unusually vivid.

Text provided by the architect.

La entrada House with a curved wall se publicó primero en Global Spaces.

Very tiny palazzo

Jordi Costa — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 07:56:29 +0000

Architects: Fala Atelier Photography: Ivo Tavares Construction Period: 2022 Location: Porto, Portugal

A tiny palace in a narrow garden. The luxuriant environment suggested an ambivalent approach to the architectural object. At human height, the palace is transparent, but its crown is proud, adorned with precious stones, and spanning across the perimeter walls.

The interior is utterly simple while equally rich, partially sunken to emphasise the presence of the surrounding greenery. Thus, in a Loos-like manner, two representative areas are defined by the different floors, with different degrees of intimacy. The only walls are the longitudinal sides of the space, in continuity with the perimeters of the garden. The bathroom and storage room are hidden behind a unitary cabinet of lacquered wood, whose scale deliberately sits somewhere between architecture and furniture. A palace shouldn’t be too simple after all.

Text provided by the architect.

La entrada Very tiny palazzo se publicó primero en Global Spaces.