Vincent Van Duysen . SIA Arquitectura photos: © Ricardo Labougle + © Vincent Van Duysen

Casa M was a labor of love that took over three years to build in Melides, Portugal. The team behind its design together with Van Duysen, the actual client, sought to create an enduring monument to design – a sculptural oeuvre camouflaged by the rolling hills, dunes and cork trees of Alentejo, south of Lisbon, where flocks of storks hover high above it. With an exterior of exposed aggregate (a type of concrete left unsealed to reveal its craggy components) tinted a bone hue to vanish into its sandy surroundings, the compound achieves the opposite effect of its Brutalist forebears, which tended to overpower the landscape. The house is meant to take in the elements – sand, light, wind, sun, air, fog and the Ocean in the distance – with a non-ornamental attitude letting the sculptural, umbrella-like canopies of marine pines be the center of attention. Sunrise and sunset here dictate the palette of colors and moods, while the structure casts shadows on the walls and on the bare soil as light shifts. Continue reading Van Duysen . SIA