This house on S. Michael Island in the Azores by Portuguese architect Bernardo Rodrigues comprises a jumble of curved and rectilinear volumes, creating little sheltered patios in-between them. A large red square wall screens the house from the strong winds of the North Atlantic ocean. The ground floor spaces are open-plan and enclosed bedrooms are located on the first floor.
The microclimate of the farmland the house is situated on offers frequent wind and showers. Therefore, the first design strategy was to block with a wall those winds, offer diverse patios and covered courtyards on the ground floor protected from rain and open all living space to the natural green around by glass walls receded from the exterior.
The typology follows almost classical Palladian and scamozzi central plan design with double height on living room and then two lateral wings enclosing one the kitchen. Rodrigues also resourced the high chimneys from popular residential architecture (which often features covered interior patios), and the other wing, which has the circulations for the first floor and to the roof terrace, is also highly contextual.
The final drawings are reminiscent of a Calder mobile in their airiness, even though the usage of concrete is specified for the winged portion of the design. It goes without saying that the plan is not the driving force for the concept here - a model is - but the section is very quality and depicts the care Rodrigues took in designing the elevation for this facade-less statement house.
