Figure 1: "Casa Tolo" (Guerra, F.)
ARCHITECT: Alvaro Leite Siza
LOCATION: Portugal
Conforming to the steep hillside in Northern Portugal Casa Tolo, the structure is hidden from plain sight. With a minimal street frontage the house creates an intimacy and sense seclusion creating a unique user experience. Because of the difficult site, the rooms are described as a connected series of pods, which is a more appropriate and cost effective means of construction when compared to a cut and fill site. These concrete formwork volumes appear on the hillside as monolith boulders, nestled between thick foliage.
The roof structure of one pod becomes the terraced area for the room above creating several outdoor areas, creating a unique vista from each of the roof terraces. The building is stretched down the hillside in a narrow strip to help minimise the impact on the site, with its location determined by a corridor of vegetation free site. (Saieh, 2008)
As the structure follows the natural topography of the site, the house forms a pedestrian link using the terraces and additional concrete plinths to create circulation on the exterior, whilst the interior stairs of the house follow a similar path in timber.
In terms of materials, the use of reinforced concrete although not the most sustainable method of construction, it is from an economic perspective the most suitable for the limited budget.
A HOUSE IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL FILTER
Alvaro Siza designs this house around all pre-existing trees to preserve continuity. He also decides to build the construct into the ground so that it is unified with the terrain. This creates an interpretation of massive stones appearing naturally on the site. This works quite well with the landscape also due to it's open plan. 
A HOUSE IS A CONTAINER OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES
Casa Tolo was designed as a "cube development", meaning that all areas of the building is sectioned. This sectioned living was Alvaro's way of bringing people together through interconnected living spaces. The roof also functions the same way, throughout the levels the staircase on the roof and corresponding interior stairs are simultaneous. (Saieh, 2008)
A HOUSE IS A DELIGHTFUL EXPERIENCE
The Design for this building is delightful. The way it is constructed, with the terrain so that it is at harmony with the earth as well with providing a view, creates a number of different feelings / emotions. I added this video to help describe this feeling. (Sutipatanasombon, 2010)
0 comments:
Post a Comment