IJUP08 - Universidade do Porto

From RCR experience to a project of a small house in the
mountain
F. Costa Leite 1 , N. Brandão Costa 2
1 Faculty of Architecture, University of Porto, Portugal.
2 Faculty of Architecture, University of Porto, Portugal.
This work, which was developed concerning my Final Thesis for the Degree in
Architecture of FAUP, consists in working up a house project for a farm keeper in the area
of Gerês, north Portugal. As the thesis occurs after the experience got during the curricular
training in RCR Arquitectes, it also includes a critical reflection on the works done by
these architects, which are mostly located in the natural volcanic park of Garrotxa, north
Catalonia.
The reflection of the first chapter focus particularly on the work method of RCR, on the
relation that their works establish with the landscape as a reference for their architecture,
and on the materiality present on their whole work. To develop the project presented on the
second chapter, an analysis of study cases was done, which enabled to understand the
diversity of possible solutions in solving the program in question; a particular attention was
also paid to the specific characteristics and problems of the site as being subjects and
coordinates common to the trial of every solution.
The project intends to solve an increasing need for a supporting structure in a farm on the
banks of river Cávado that could function as a shelter for a gardener, a farmer, a friend or a
relative. This way it came the opportunity of imagining a small retreat, suitable for a night
and at the same time comfortable for an entire life (Fig. 1). The protect strategy starts from
a study of the site, which precedes the design and which allowed to identify the main
problems of the entire property, having had a great influence on the selection of the
specific location, as well as on the solution principles.
To achieve the final draw of the house for a farm keeper it was important the reflection on
RCR Arquitectes’s work that reflects the lessons learned in that great laboratory, which
was and still is, the geographical area where they have always been living. It was also
important the organised and systematic research on architectural exercises with similar
characteristics to that one defined in this project. The chosen examples contributed
individually to the achievement of several hypotheses on the composition of the small
house, as well as different ways of interacting with the surrounded areas. The project could
then achieve its own mechanisms being the design the main tool and finding in the
program and in the site, its most important motivations.
Project Model_scale 1:50
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