Location - S.Miguel . Azores Data - 2008 Photos - MSB Architects Areas - 38 500 m2 Design Team - Miguel Malaguerra, Susana Jesus, Bruno Martins
“...A beautiful garden is when the nature is present but a nature reduced to human size and given to the mankind, and it´s the most efficient shelter against the aggressiveness of the contemporaneous world...” Luis Barragán.
The land: huge, breathtaking, with no construction, this place is a confirmation of the natural side of the island, carved on top of the sea. The cliff has dramatic views but before that we can immediately feel the calm atmosphere of a non-ending landscape. The concept: the philosophy of the project starts with the land itself, that´s the body and the starting point of our project. The intervention starts with a study of the place, essential to elaborate a plan with an architecture that blends with the land, and that can live together in pure harmony. The project: the strategy can be found in the wall made of sugar cane and the piece of land on the side of the mountain sustained by walls. The space is delimited naturally by the different levels. The terraces are higher and the inside starts to be sculpted in a natural way, due to the steep land and the dramatic orography. On the top the building shows the natural side of our project. The vast program niches in the land in a very natural way, and the rest is placed above without touching the land as if it could gravitate above the gardens. Whatever is done will leave a mark. Our project aims to give human nature to this landscape without changing the character of the place. We really want to see an acute annotation. When we get closer we can see pieces of land on the side of the mountain sustained by walls where there are gardens. You can notice them, when you are walking around with in front of you a virgin territory, a dramatic cliff and a no ending view over the sea.
