Excerpt: Casa NaMora is a residence designed by the architectural firms Filipe Pina Arquitectura and DB Arquitectos. The intervention’s scale and the site’s natural identity were always considered when choosing the construction approach and materials: stone, concrete, steel and wood. Inside, the white and the comfort of the wood balance with the raw and austere presence of the concrete. Outside, stone and concrete are carved in the same way, in a reinterpretation of the vernacular architecture of this region.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by Architect] Locally known as Mora, the area is located in a valley along the foothills of the Serra da Estrela near the parish of Gonçalo. This agricultural property has approximately 18ha of the area. A dense pine tree forest surrounds it.
The property has been well-preserved thanks to its agricultural activities. At its centre stands a modest pre-existence of granite built in the mid-twentieth century, from where the new project started. To avoid disrupting the farm activities, we decided to split the old from the new when designing the house. The outcome, with the extension of the existing home, resulted from a compromise between the owner’s wishes, current features and the morphology of the land, characterized by several terraces.
Naturally, two new volumes of concrete were created and implanted in an existing terrace, closely linked to the granite pre-existence, allowing for the local farm’s natural and fluid development.
The name NaMora has two meanings in Portuguese. It refers to the location of the project, where “Na Mora” would translate into “In Mora” (Mora being the place where the property lies), but “namora” in Portuguese means literally “flirt” or “date”. Thus, in Mora, the House NaMora was born, where the concrete volumes forming the new part of the house formally “flirt” with the existing granite body, in total harmony with the existing surroundings.
The project was divided into two distinct yet complementary elements: the storage, technical area, functional sanitary installations and kitchen are located in the pre-existence and fully dedicated to the farm’s activities, whereas the living room, bedrooms, suite and outdoor leisure space are part of the new section of the house.
Inside, we sought the neutrality given by the simplicity and purity of the materials and by the illusion of the absence of detail. The idea of interiority translates into openings towards strategically located landscapes, frames and courtyards.
The intervention’s scale and the site’s natural identity were always considered when choosing the construction approach and materials: stone, concrete, steel and wood. Inside, the white and the comfort of the wood balance with the raw and austere presence of the concrete. Outside, stone and concrete are carved in the same way, in a reinterpretation of the vernacular architecture of this region.
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