Forja House

Forja House is a small vacation dwelling, set in a Portuguese village inside the outskirts of the Douro River. The house is defined by a simple gesture, embedded in the slope and facing the privileged valley landscape.

The surroundings are defined by small houses, some of them are there for ages, others appeared punctually during the last decades. They all have different typologies, marked by schist, but without a coherent composition or model. The house itself is an antithesis of this mimetic culture that sometimes characterizes these contexts.

Therefore, the process is set by the seeking of a typologic depuration and formal abstraction as an integrating option with nature. Conceptually it results in an open space and reduced distribution area – a dwelling condensed to its needs, enhancing its relationship with the site through wide and strategic openings that frame the surrounding and horizon. On the higher slope, a concrete water tank characterizes the social exterior space, tied to the existing granite wall and rural path for animals.