Hidden villa
Cornell University
Manuel Aires Mateus and Rodolfo Dias project studio
When you walk in Lisbon and pass by the old wall with garage gates you might not expect that this wall can hide a villa. Modest outside and rich in the interior, excavated in landscape and full of light. Narrow tunnel of the entrance leads to the main tall space with oculus in the dome. Room for eating is subtracted from the main space; it is a big opening slightly above the main room and it acts as a stage. Library is the most sacral space for concentration and it reminds church’s apsida, light and peaceful. The bathroom is a tall cone space where light falls like water. The last space is achievable only for masters, it is a bedroom. This is the only room which has a huge window and access to the garden with the view on the whole city lying below.
The collection of spaces is connected and united by the gap going through all of the rooms and creating different light conditions.
