On a regular basis we like to open the doors to Portugal's most unique, luxurious and unusual homes. Today we are travelling to Vagos, Aveiro, to discover the incredible Casa 109, an architectural work by the Frari studio, founded by Maria Fradinho, built next to the iconic National Road 109. In an area with heavy traffic, this residence is designed to shield the privacy of its inhabitants by facing away from the outside world, while also establishing an uninterrupted connection with the inner garden. At first sight, it is the exterior and shape of the house that is the most striking feature, but the beauty of the interiors also has plenty to be discovered. Let's take a closer look at Casa 109, the architectural work of art built in Vagos, Portugal.
"This house confronts one of the most important roads in the municipality - National Road 109. In this way, and since it is a property for residential use, the architectural piece protects itself from this busy road and proposes to materialise in a uniform body that, through its shape and disposition, shelters and safeguards itself from the outside world", explains the Frari architecture studio.
Casa 109 has the "main façade perpendicular to the street, in a contrasting way to the pre-existing reality". Thus, the "front façade loses importance, becoming blind", and a green transition/protection space is created between it and the street - a barrier that protects the house from the noise and environmental pollution caused by the road, and that guarantees the necessary privacy, as explained by the architect.
The building, in a curved shape, guarantees the necessary protection from the wind in the porch, while at the same time certifying a greater depth of the patio in the axis of the house. All the compartments look out onto the patio through the porch on the ground floor or a joint balcony on the upper floor, elements that provide a uniform façade and allow the volume to extend beyond its openings, always in a homogenous manner.
"This simple and solid piece, intends to be a critical response to the intervention in land bordering national roads, solving the problem of the inability to enjoy the terraces, and determining the missing rule so that these roads, which are also streets, can effectively receive housing use with dignity," highlights the studio.
