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Architecture

Casa das Histórias by Eduardo Souto de Moura

The terracotta-tinted volumes of Souto de Moura's Casa
das Histórias. Photograph by Luís Ferreira Alves.

By Claudia Saraiva

A city in the midst of a cultural boom, Lisbon has been churning out a steady
stream of new and revamped museums for the past four years - alas, all in
converted buildings. Cascais, the town in the outskirts of Lisbon that heralded
the trend back in 2006, has recently raised the stake opening of the city's
latest new-build gallery, Casa das Histórias - the House of Stories.

The brainchild of architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, the structure was
designed to host a collection of work by London-based Portuguese artist Paula
Rego. Having part-donated, part-lent her paintings and drawings to the seaside
town, the work needed a home. The striking resulting structure features a host
of Souto de Moura's trademark scenographic elements - bold shapes accentuated by
an intricately patterned, terracotta-tinted exterior.

Situated on a site about the size of two tennis courts, Casa das Histórias has been arranged so that the mismatched
heights of the museum's two volumes fill the gap between the ground and the
surrounding treetops. This yin-yang configuration of mineral versus vegetal also
informs the arresting colour of the exterior walls - the reddish concrete stands
in contrast to the surrounding foliage.

The tone of the rendering and the shape of the pyramidal bodies of Casa das
Histórias were inspired by a nearby residence, designed by Raúl Lino - architect
of Português Suave, the architectural 'style' which knits elements of
traditional Portuguese homes with modern structures - the alternative to
Modernism during the country's right-wing dictatorship.

The essence of Casa das Histórias, however, can be found across the foyer,
past the shop within the first pyramid, and the cafeteria in the second.
Enclosed within the walls of the neighbouring volumes, the patio brings Casa das
Histórias back to human scale – despite the dramatic proportions of the
structure.

26 March 2010|Architecture

See More Casa das Histórias by Eduardo Souto de Moura

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Event Dates

8 Jan 2010, 10:44 - 8 Jan 2010, 10:44

Website

www.casadashistoriaspaularego.com/

Address

Casa das Histórias Paula Rego
Avenida da República 300
Cascais

Portugal

Telephone

35.1 2148 2697

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