hinge – July 2019

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Lisbon, Portugal

Fran Silvestre Arquitectos

House Coimbra-Steinman

Photography courtesy of the architect

Another fascinating residential project by architectural tyro Fran Silvestre, this

genuinely unusual formal piece sits to one side of a golf course outside the

capital’s centre, within view of both the links and several other, safe-to-say less

interesting Mediterranean villas. Finished entirely in the architect’s signature all-

white palette, the villa is a minimalist’s dream formed of two extremely narrow

arms that shoot out from a shared starting point towards the horizon and

views. At a dramatic central point in the plan, one of the arms bends radically

to swirl off on its own trajectory, eventually bending back to parallel the original

arm of the plan. This allows the culmination point of the two arms to face off

the hillside as a pair of snake heads. The first, straight one climaxes in the

swimming pool that hews to the same, roughly 10-metre width, growing literally

out of the concrete foundation; the second, curvy arm ends in the master suite,

appropriately removed and private from the more public areas of the house.

Both the ‘heads’ of these arms complete themselves as oversized frames

shading recessed loggia spaces. The flat rooflines of the two arms are different:

the straight one’s is slightly lower than the curved wing’s, making it seem

like an outgrowth that didn’t quite make the ‘bend’ in the plan’s road. As

the pool deck is obviously another step down, this creates a shuttering in

section as the villa navigates the hillside slope.

The plan ‘starts’ at a double home-office, near the approach driveway.

And the living room is set at the joint part of the plan, where the house is

momentarily wider, and where this main room can exploit openings in three

directions, spilling onto a ‘side’ terrace as well. The giant loggia at the end,

beside the pool, is given to outdoor dining, with a second, casual kitchen

to service it. In the private wing, three guestrooms line the route towards

the master suite, each looking outwards away from the other wing, for

increased privacy. A partial basement level at the beginning of the plan

provides a garage and service space.