Montemor House / Brasil Arquitetura

Architects: Brasil Arquitetura
Area: 400 m²
Year: 2021
Photographs: Manuel Sá, Taipal
Municipality: Monte Mor
Country: Brazil

Montemor House, designed by Brasil Arquitetura, features three rammed earth walls made from different colored soils that define, organize, and structure the house. These walls, varying in height, shape the lot from a small triangular central courtyard, organizing the key living spaces such as the kitchen, living areas, and bedrooms, while also supporting the roof of the three volumes. The thick mud walls are central to the architectural, constructive, and spatial elements of the project. The house extends outward from the central courtyard, which serves as the “heart” of the design. This courtyard is also the house’s focal point, where the earthen walls converge around a small stone fountain, symbolizing the connection between earth and water.

Three rammed earth walls, each made from differently colored soils, define, organize, and structure this house. Varying in height, the walls shape the use of the lot in all directions, radiating from a small triangular central courtyard formed by their intersection. They also organize the primary living spaces, including the kitchen, services, living areas, and bedrooms, while conceptually and physically supporting the roof over the three volumes created by their placement on the site.

The use and placement of thick mud walls are fundamental to the project, serving as the foundation for its architectural, constructive, formal, and spatial aspects from start to finish.

In simpler terms, the house extends outward in all directions, with its functions and spaces radiating from the central courtyard, which serves as its true “heart.”

Conversely, the house reaches its culmination as it converges on the small patio, where a stone fountain at the center symbolizes the guardian of earth and water.