The peace and prosperity brought by the end of the Angolan civil war witnessed the beginning of development and urban reconstruction. At first exclusively in Luanda, it has gradually extended to hinterland cities such as Lubango, capital of Huila district. This small town, founded in the early 20th-century, is one of the main references of Portuguese colonial urbanism in Africa. Continue reading PROMONTORIO
PROMONTORIO . photos: © FG+SG architectural photography
The house is located on a large field of mature cork oaks and stone pines in Grandola, Alentejo, near the Atlantic coast. Typologically, it is inspired on the Portuguese rural settlements known as “montes” which were usually located in dominant places in the landscape and formed by clusters of volumes informally positioned around a courtyard. In like manner, the concept for this house spring from the idea of a central patio, which is the main source of light and shade. Around and against this cut-off space, adjoining volumes aggregate the more private or servicing functions of the house —bedrooms, toilets, kitchen, pantry and storage, whereas the interstitial spaces between the volumes generate the social areas, namely, the living- and dining- rooms and the study. Continue reading PROMONTORIO
