Symbiotic Jag is located in the noble area of Braga, whose morphology and topography are characterized by its peculiar character. The target of intervention has a very steep slope allowing a visual relationship of amplitude with the city in which the morphological structure of the subdivision based on a logic of “staircase” allowed an implantation in line with the client’s intention.
The project sought to establish a clear connection between the typology and topography of the lot and the desire to project the dwelling to the horizon in an attempt to embrace the city. The building is born in an organic movement, from the limit of the site supporting the terrace on which the sill level is developed. The continuous movement traces all the built mass culminating in a projection freeing the dwelling from the terrain.
This logic develops a prominent image in its urban context, with a strong imagery, working as a visual catalyst in the landscape where it belongs. The materiality seeks to accentuate this conceptual aspect by breaking the structure in two in a logic of positives and negatives, in which the structure of the house, as a positive, is executed in exposed white concrete in wooden formwork, seeking the relationship between the lightness transmitted by white and hardness associated with concrete as an apparent structure.
On the other hand, the negatives are coated in copper, marking in a noble and exclamatory way the openings of the dwelling. This clarity of correspondence between form and materiality is sought after, avoiding the haphazard application of materials. From a functional point of view, the dwelling follows the fluidity of the structure, being a programmed consequence of it.
The intersections and negatives generated define the spaces, which follow the topography of the terrain climbing them at different levels. The social area also develops in a pathway direction, which is hierarchized by different levels, always in a downward direction from the ground level. The intimate area is developed in a typology of 2 suites, in a kind of mezzanine, where visual contact is promoted.
The exterior arrangements seek to maintain as much natural area as possible, without an accentuated gardening intervention, with the exception of the area around the swimming pool, in which an impermeable area and a grassed area are developed. The exterior paths will be executed in white travertine maintaining a homogenous image with the remaining materiality. Source by Office of Feeling Architecture.
- Location: Braga Portugal
- Architect: Office of Feeling Architecture
- Principal architect: Vitor Marques, Miguel Ribeiro, Armando Amaro
- Design team: Vitor Marques, Miguel Ribeiro, Armando Amaro
- Supervision: Vitor Marques
- Built area: 410m2
- Site area: 1345m2
- Design year: 2021
- Completion year: 2023
- Images: Courtesy of Office of Feeling Architecture