Courtyard Houses
An aristocratic villa with a beautiful garden had been sold and was being used as a venue for wedding celebrations.
The house s vegetable garden, running parallel to Porto de Leixões, was sold off as plots for development.
A new road, proposed by the local authority, was to cut diagonally across the vegetable garden to leave a triangle (one plot) and a trapezium (nine plots). The project sets out to occupy the trapezium, dividing it into four small and five large plots, with swimming pools and annexes.
The plots are separated by parallel walls, which support three strips of concrete that act as roofs. The spaces between the walls are courtyards, where the vegetation will grow up above the walls to merge with the neighbouring gardens and fields.
I believe that the place, laid out with walls and trees, will retain its identity.