Aires Mateus tucks concrete house underneath hillside in Monsaraz 3/1/20, 12:10 PM

Cantilevering concrete roof

emerges from Portuguese hillside
house by Aires Mateus
Jon Astbury 29 December 2019

An underground concrete house in Monsaraz, Portugal, by Aires Mateus

is dug into a hillside and concealed by a green roof that cantilevers
outwards.

Sheltered by this curving concrete roof, the terrace of House in Monsaraz

overlooks the nearby Alqueva lake.

When see from above or the west, only the patio and white-painted light
wells in the roof are visible in the landscape.

Aires Mateus designed a subtle boundary fence of metal rods and a thin,
deep cut housing the staircase that leads down into the single-storey
house.
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Aires Mateus tucks concrete house underneath hillside in Monsaraz 3/1/20, 12:10 PM

An angled corridor runs diagonally across the floor plan, with the
bedrooms and bathrooms have been tucked into the underground rear
section.

These subterranean rooms opens onto circular patios that are open to

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Aires Mateus tucks concrete house underneath hillside in Monsaraz 3/1/20, 12:10 PM

the sky.

At the eastern end of the home, the concrete roof emerges from the
hillside to form a canopy defined by a series of inverted domes scooped
out of the cast concrete form.

Two large rooms – a kitchen and a living space – look out onto this
covered terrace and the landscape beyond through large sliding glass
windows.

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Aires Mateus tucks concrete house underneath hillside in Monsaraz 3/1/20, 12:10 PM

The concrete frame has been left exposed for the ceilings and floors.

The walls are lined with wooden panels that are left raw in the corridor
and coated white in the living and kitchen areas.

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Aires Mateus tucks concrete house underneath hillside in Monsaraz 3/1/20, 12:10 PM

Large amounts of concealed storage is built in to the walls of these larger

living spaces, allowing the areas to be as minimal and open as possible
when not in use.

Bright white paint and tiling has been used to line the interiors of the
circular courtyards.

Founded by brothers Francisco and Manuel Aires Mateus, the practice

has completed several projects that are also defined by irregular cut-
outs.

In 2017, the practice completed a school in Belgium cut through by

house-shaped voids, as well as a community centre in Portugal featuring
irregular niches carved out of its elevations.

Photography is by Joao Guimaraes.

Read more:

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Aires Mateus tucks concrete house underneath hillside in Monsaraz 3/1/20, 12:10 PM

Architecture
Portugal
Residential
Houses
Cantilevers
Aires Mateus
Green roofs
Portuguese houses
Concrete houses

More images and plans

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Aires Mateus tucks concrete house underneath hillside in Monsaraz 3/1/20, 12:10 PM

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Aires Mateus tucks concrete house underneath hillside in Monsaraz 3/1/20, 12:10 PM

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Aires Mateus tucks concrete house underneath hillside in Monsaraz 3/1/20, 12:10 PM

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