On a hillside overlooking the city of Guimarães, we looked for an elevation that would allow, from within the space, to widely benefit from the magnificent view over the city. The house is there implanted, in an elevation that does not exist in the actual terrain and, therefore, we must transform it by reinventing its topography, shaping it with the assistance of long granite walls that, accentuating ledges, are already the proclamation of this assembly, setting the basis for its construction. On the upper platform of that desired elevation, the volume rests, swinging so seemingly unsteady over the last ledge.
The artificiality of this platform also allows for the appropriation of its interior and the house can be developed in a lower level, in direct contact with the ground floor. A narrow courtyard, open throughout the height of the interior space, brings down natural light into the center of the volume, compensating for the constraints resulting from the predominant orientation of the spans of the façade - facing the scenery, that is, to the West. A balance that the different inputs of zenital light come to strengthen. In the opposite façade everything becomes more filtered and circumstantial, drawing the entrance approaching area and safeguarding the readability of the service areas. And all it takes is a volume unusually cantilevered - the laundry room - to establish the corresponding hierarchy. And then we wait for dusk, for the city lights, that over the horizon, will gradually light up.
