Furadouro House | Carlos Castanheira Architects

FURADOURO HOUSE .

The Desire of Architecture

Architecture is the desire to build.

Building and subsequently inhabiting a space is one of the aims of architecture.

Perhaps it is the ultimate aim, without which everything would be nothing more than an exercise in style.

Although I always bear in mind the possibility that the project I am developing and researching may never be built, my hope is that it will be built, that it will become a reality. We must remain optimistic.

Optimism is another essential element in the practice of architecture.

Without it, the collaboration and interaction with the client, as well as with myself and the many other stakeholders involved in the design phase and subsequently in the construction process, will not be successful.

The Furadouro House project was developed through a process characterised by enthusiasm and close collaboration with the young clients, the future residents.

Like any other project, the brief presented a certain specific requirement – some routine and enriching, but others that placed high demands on the creative process.

We sometimes view the small – or even large – demands that clients place on us as a hindrance.

Once the initial reluctance has passed, these demands become a creative process, forcing us to reflect, to study, to engage in self-criticism and to find a solution that – without fail – is an improvement on what we had previously envisaged and with which we had already felt comfortable.

Comfort is always a source of discomfort, for it prevents us from criticising, engaging in self-criticism, seeking, experimenting, and making choices.

In the Furadouro House project, everything was carried out in the way I always strive to in a standard creative process that aims to meet the clients’ many and varied aspirations.

All that remained was the building work.

As I write this short piece today, I still don’t understand why.

Some things simply cannot be explained.

The exercise remains, but the architecture has not been completed.

The desire remains.

Carlos Castanheira

Architect:

Carlos Castanheira

Office in Portugal:

CC&CB – Architects, Lda.

Project Coordinators:

Mariana Mendes

Isabel Carvalho

Project Team:

Fernanda Sá

Filipa Guedes

Luísa Felizardo

3D Visualisation:

Germano Vieira

Sara Noronha

Engineering:

Structure:

HDP – Gabinete de Serviços e Projetos, Lda.