Houses of Cards, The maximum buildable volume was found to be a distorted box, two stories high. Refusing the fragmentation prevalent in the surroundings, the five houses pretend to be one. An object in tension between the collective and the private – a plural wedding cake.
© Francisco Ascensão
Its cohesion lies in a façade that wraps playfully around the four sides, roughly structured in vertical bands: openings (porte-fenêtres and balconies) alternate with walls (complete with triangular crowns and marble belly buttons). The clashing rhythms and exceptions give the internal dissensions away.
© Giulietta Margot
The ground floor is floating, hovering above a miniskirt of garage doors. It contains transversal living rooms, spanning between the bridge entrances on the street side, and the gardens in the back. The living spaces sway between free transversal walls, generous and unitarian. The private level is organized like the section of a fruit. A layer of simply ordered bedrooms conceals a core of frivolous bathrooms and circulation spaces. In each house, a lone column, seemingly arbitrary, pins the two floors together, and dialogues with a roof opening provide daylight to the core. So despite their transversal configuration, the houses have pseudo-centers – a few vertical things, in unstable positions.
Project Info
Architects: fala
Country: Portugal, Marco de Canaveses
Area: 820 m²
Year: 2020
Photographs:Francisco Ascensão, Giulietta Margot
Project Team: filipe magalhães, ana luisa soares, ahmed belkhodja, lera samovich, ana lima, joana sendas, paulo sousa
Madeline Brooks is a Projects Editor at Arch2O, where she has been shaping and refining architectural content since March 2024. With over a decade of experience in editorial work, she has curated, revised, and published an array of projects covering architecture, urbanism, and public space design. A graduate of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Madeline brings a strong academic foundation and a discerning editorial eye to each piece she oversees. Since joining Arch2O, she has played a pivotal role in shaping the platform’s editorial direction, with a focus on sustainability, social relevance, and cutting-edge design. Madeline excels at translating complex architectural ideas into clear, engaging stories that resonate with both industry professionals and general readers. She works closely with architects, designers, and global contributors to ensure every project is presented with clarity, depth, and compelling visual narrative. Her editorial leadership continues to elevate Arch2O’s role in global architectural dialogue.