The wilderness of an infinite dream

In the Cercal House, time and space are not separate dimensions but rather interdependent. Studio Atelier Data believes, there is the time that corresponds to the cycles of nature, the time of who inhabits the place and there is the space that is shaped and influenced by it. Located in Alentejo, Portugal is also a challenge. As Miguel Torga says, Alentejo represents “the maximum and the minimum we can aspire to: the wilderness of an infinite dream and the reality of an exhausted soil.”
The Cercal House is a proposal that explores the possibilities of a new time and space in a place also marked and altered by the novelty of the house, wishing ultimately to build a renewed commitment between man and landscape. Located on a terrain whose halfpipe morphology is motivated by a water line that crosses it, the house is implanted in one of the slopes that the river divides, next to the remains of an old construction.
The search for the right position and solar orientation, in parallel with a volumetry that searches for a skilful dialogue with the slope and also the pursuit of the best visual horizon, synthesise the main intervention strategy guidelines. In addition, the project sought to meet other principles of which the studio highlighted: Appeal to the traditional house archetype as a structure that carries a solid memory and as a support for new formal manipulations and spatial interpretations;
Introduction of patios as light-enhancing element and reflection in the interior, doubling the exterior spaces with a more intimate vocation; The functional aims considers the social area as the centre of the house, around which is organised as a more restricted access. Intensification of the relationship between interior and exterior by extending the roof and projecting a platform that comes from the social area and is topped by a water plan – a tank that builds the platform boundary; Mediation between interior and exterior space through the introduction of a transition space – the porch. This space is reinforced by the introduction of sliding panels that expand the confines of the house boundaries and the horizon.