ARX

As you ascend Rua Damasceno Monteiro, a sudden and extraordinary visual opening towards Baixa and Rossio unfolds. When we imagined a building for this site, we designed it from this relationship with the city, from this strategic point. The building is not conceived as a continuous block and therefore allows this specific visual connection to remain open and continue to belong to the city. In addition, the possibility of opening windows and balconies laterally towards the valley allows the rooms facing the street not to be limited to views of the buildings opposite.

Starting from a search for the archetype of Lisbon architecture, the aim was for it to inform the quality and sobriety of the contemporary architecture, from the urban scale down to the finest details. The Damasceno Monteiro façade seeks a more literal expression of Lisbon’s character — vertical windows, Lioz stone and tiles — while on the opposite side, the apartments open towards the view through large balconies, articulated by stone pilasters.

Following a conceptual path of subtlety and apparent simplicity, the interior spaces gradually revealed throughout the building stand out for their exceptional spatial quality.

In concise terms, the architectural concept is based on the idea of a “building of viewpoints”, taking to the extreme the possibility of looking out over the surrounding landscape and creating platforms — terraces and balconies — from which to experience the extraordinary views.