MANIFESTO

House at BaiãoOF RE - READING

SILVIA CAPONE

House at BaiãoEduardo Souto de Moura

The Portuguese architect, Eduardo Souto de Moura, received a commission for a small house from a couple with two children, which would be built by the river, Duoro, set in the Baião hills. The client wished the house to have the character of a shelter used for weekends and requested that the existing ruins on the site would be the starting point for the project.A ruin can be understood as the edge between architectu-re and nature. In other words, the moment when a construc-tion ceases to be architecture and becomes nature. The work of Souto de Moura shows an interest in this dialectic between nature and artifice.

A dialectic where the building site changes into a tool, it becomes a mental and an intellectual exercise in itself. This sensitivity towards the site goes hand in hand with the belief in simplicity as a means to transmit thoughts. Following the words of the poet, Eugenio de Andrade, "... only the exact word is of public interest...", Souto de Moura believes that the tools used by the architects to write - with materials such as stone, iron and glass, as well as their joints, which are of no less importance - have as their final goal to create an anonymous and serene work in relation to time. In other words, to become poetry and to arose feelings. Fig1. Isometric drawing of the house.

Architecture of high complexity based on its contextual textures is, however, a conse-quence of this simplicity in the use of materials and its joints. It was inherent in the profound integration with the site, of camou-flaging new spaces with nature, of fusing borders, underlining characteristics and expressing judgements of all the surrounding elements.

THE RUIN WALL HOUSE 1990 - 1993

Fig2. The grass roof which forms part of the topography of the place.

Fig3. Front facade which opened towards the river.

The ruin becomes important when under-standing it as a division which defines the limits, as a fundamental element of spatial definition and of obtaining a concept of time. It maintains a dialogue with the context where it is placed. It is an architecture that is not forced, a silence where nature is seen as architecture and culture as nature.

Responding to the wishes of the client, the ruin of the old farm which was attached to a retaining wall became interpreted as a kind of a bridge between internal culture (of the inhabitant) and an external reality (of time). The work began with the demolition of the retaining wall of big granite stone blocks, a traditional material of North Portugal.This was followed by the movement of earth, shaping a "negative" of the house in the ground and the old ruins began to take the form of a sort of a closed garden that served as a entrance hall for the house.

This was a second building which consisted of a concrete box which was supported by the ruin and inserted into the earth. In this way, the ruin served as a joint between the past and the new rectangle house which, because of being partly set into the earth, was 'blind' on its side walls except the front facade which opened towards the river, Douro. From the interior, next to a fire-place built of stones from the old retaining wall, one could enjoy a view to the far away valley of Cerdeira through the glass facade.

Being faithful to the concept of the ruin ceasing to be architecture and becoming nature, the house is camouflaged by the landscape in such a way that it is not the trees' foliage which acts as a second skin but the landscape itself.

Fig4. Corridor and the living room-dining room.

Fig6. Swimmingpool.

Fig5. Bedrooms.

Fig8. Plant of the house with stone walls designed.

Fig7. Plant of the house contextualized.

Stories of Houses

1 4

2 3

5

7 8 96

1110

1412 13

16 17 1815

2019

22 2321

25 26 2724

29 3028

PHOTOGRAPHS AND DRAWINGS

1 Small House for a Kolonihaven, by Enric Miralles 2 'Maison à Bordeaux', by Rem Koolhaas3 Miranda Santos House, by Álvaro Siza4 Villa Anbar in Dammam, by Peter Barber 5 Can Lis and Can Feliz in Mallorca, by Jørn Utzon6 The U-House in Tokyo, by Toyo Ito7 House in Lège, by Anne Lacaton and Jean Philippe Vassal 8 House in Baião, by Eduardo Souto de Moura9 Blas House in Sevilla la Nueva (Madrid), by Alberto Campo Baeza10 The House Aktion Poliphile, by Studio Granda11 Villa Saint-Cast in Brittany, by Dominique Perrault12 A Family House at Riva San Vitale, by Mario Botta 13 Rogers’ House in Wimbledon, by Richard Rogers14 The Gugalun House, by Peter Zumthor15 The Naked House in Kawagoe, by Shigeru Ban16 Vanna Venturi House in Philadelphia, by Robert Venturi17 Ernest Mourmans' House in Belgium, by Ettore Sottsass18 Houses in the San Matías Neighbourhood (Granada), by Juan Domingo Santos19 House in Corrubedo (Galicia), by David Chipperfield20 Frank Gehry's House in California21 The House of the Rain (Santander), by Juan Navarro Baldeweg22 The Icon House (Montreuil), by Périphériques23 Villa Eila in Guinea, by Heikkinen + Komonen24 Villa Bollen in Holland, by One Architecture25 House in La Moraleja (Madrid), by Miguel Fisac 26 The Stretto House in Dallas, by Steven Holl 27 Dick's House in Troyes (France), by Jean Nouvel 28 Möbius House in Amsterdam, by Ben van Berkel 29 House in Pembrokeshire (Wales), by Future Systems30 House in a Plum Grove (Tokyo), by Kazuyo Sejima

READING AND SELECTION OF HOUSESSTORIES OF HOUSES

Stories of Houses feature examples of dwellings from which we can all learn - both the clients during their contemplation about building a house, and the architects to understand and evaluate the life of the clients. How can an architect design a house for his older sister who has just become a widow? What can an architect offer when his client, who is confined to a wheelchair, asks for a complex design that will become his world? And when art lovers offer total freedom for the design of their house? How is one to explain that the neighbours once shot at the house of the architect who now has acclaimed international prestige?The reading of a series of articles about different houses, tries to give answers to questions concerning intimacies and origins of important international houses, without forget-ting the multidisciplinary nature of architecture.

The selection of houses is derived from a careful study and a the search for informations, photographs, drawings, and especially from the redesigning these houses in their most significant features. The development of effective drawings of plans, sections and isometric views allowed the reader to enter into every house and empathize with the needs and how to respond to these needs, to understand the emotional content and formal expression.

The next phase of the reading of the Stories of Houses has a first selection of two houses. The selection criterion is based on a minimum certainly subjective factor and the involvement of the reader. The choice is oriented on houses with a fascinating story that builds the project and houses that are the expression of feelings and passions, that helps to determine an analysis detached from the time to which they belong.It 's important to analyze the link between the client and the architect, the architect's ability to be able to read the discerning customer. And it's necessary that the architect performs a study and analysis of cultural, social and emotional aspects but also the future needs of the customer.Through this analysis it comes to being able to imagine the client's life in this house, the slightest movement, feelings, moods, and then to drawing the skin of the house.

THE HOUSES OF THE FIRST-CHOICE

HOUSE IN LEGE, BY ANNE LACATON AND JEAN PHILIPPE VASSAL

THE U-HOUSE IN TOKYO, BY TOYO ITO

House in lègeAnne Lacaton & jeann Philippe Vassal

“House in Lége is an example of harmony and fusion between architecture and landscape. It isn’t the nature that adapts and changes the architecture, but the architecture that penetrates into the nature and is perforated by it. Here architecture and nature are perfectly embedded.The supporting structure seems to be constituted from six pines crossing the house and raise from the ground. Trees aren’t immobilized but free to move with the wind through a frame of rubber and Plexiglas. The nature grows up in the house. The glitter of water is reflected by the aluminum sheeting. It illuminates the space below the house and creates an artificial sky.

Clients want to preserve this place of memories, not touching any tree. So their memory are materialized in what is the dream of every child: a shelter between trees.The essence and the concept of this house are so exciting, but it’s esthetic is not so good. Maybe the use of wood could transform its aspect and get this structure in a better harmo-ny with the natural contest.It seems to be a temporary structure that can be easily removed without destroying or modifying the landscape, the beauty and the fragility of the earth.The sign of the architecture is delicate and painless for the nature.”

Fig.9 The windows in the aluminium facades are made of corrugated transparent plastic sheets, but the main facade overlooking the Bay is made entirely of large transparent glass sliding doors.

The U-House in TokyoToyo Ito

“The U-House is a monument that symbolizes the pain and loneliness of a specific family, after the death of a loved one. The architect creates an intimate space, but also private and negative. The house is closed from the outside world and isolated from inside. It’s a large tube where shadows and sounds live. It’s a place of memory and pain, where the life of this family is suspended between past and present. It’s a sort of a therapy house.The sense of anguish and meditation is made better by the presence of white walls, ceiling and floor, two dark corridors and the slope of the roof facing the inner courtyard (brown earth and weeds).

The house recreates the empty and feeling heard by the family, a state of mind long but temporary. The family has shared here mourning for about twenty years, after this time has felt the need to leave this place and destroy it. The family continued to live together but now in a virtual house.The U-House is a house that goes beyond the materiality and physicality. Its real essence is this family and its spiritual sharing.”

RE-SELECTION OF HOUSES

between architecture and nature. In other words, the moment when a construction ceases to be architecture and becomes nature. It maintains a dialogue with the context where it is placed. It is an architecture that is not forced, a silence where nature is seen as architecture and culture as nature.The second topic concerns the Blas House in Sevilla la Nueva (Madrid), by Alberto Campo Baeza. It is a house where the client and his family can listen to music in silence.A book of poems is the starting point of the project to the architect. A house for emotions; to forget and remember. Poetry and emotions are the materials of costruction.In de Blas house one finds peace within oneself and gains freedom. The experience is deeply personal, based on reflections; forgetting and remem-bering and relating oneself with the

THE HOUSES OF THE SECOND-CHOICE

HOUSE IN BAIAO, BY EDUARDO SOUTO DE MOURA THE BLAS HOUSE IN SEVILLA LA NUEVA, BY ALBERTO CAMPO BAEZA

The Watching a video presentation of the houses read and selected by the Canadian students, induces a second choice of houses. The listening to possible interpretations and analysis of these houses, leads to a reasses-sment of choice. The exchange of ideas is an opportunity for reflection and re-reading of thoughts.The two houses chosen deal with the subject of architecture in relation to nature and the poetry of the architec-ture.The first topic concerns the House in Baião, by Eduardo Souto de Moura. This house is a meeting point betwe-en nature and the artifice.The client wished the house to have the character of a shelter used for weekends and requested that the existing ruins on the site would be the starting point for the project. So the ruin can be understood as the link

environment. Francisco de Blas and Alberto Campo Baeza have made a house where its poetry helps to build another more subjective poetry of the one who perceives the place.These two houses represent the starting point for reflection on the content and on the expression of architecture in its context. The meaning of the houses is analyzed in relation to the cultural period of realization, the 20th Century, and customer’ s needs and wishes.

Memory through Revival and TranscendenceThe Blas House

The Blas House is divided into two conceptual elements: a solid concrete box sitting firmly on the ground emphasising its sense of gravity and another transparent glass box placed on the concrete box with a light that almost disappe-ars into the landscape. The perfectly carved out box contrasts with the structural qualities of the second, the viewpoint situated at the highest point of the house. They rappresents two opposing states or qualities.In the glass box the inhabitant can loose all sense of the time and can listen to the sounds of the ambience, of the silence, of the music of the landscape.The transparent box is the part of the house where escape and meditate.It 's a place of poetry, emotions and thoughts, feelings, pain, loneliness, and desires.Here the inhabitant can listen in silence to his life and what happens outside of himself.This house can be described as the materialization of the

song "4 minutes and 33 seconds" by John Cage, an oppor-tunity to listen and reflect on the environment in which the man lives.It 's expression of transcendence and memory. Space is apparently limited by glass walls, here the human mind hasn’t limits to think and observe. It looks like a place suspended between reality and desire where listen to the passing of each fragment of time imbued with the light of day or the dark of night.This place of poetry becomes a shelter for man.

Do spaces exist without poetry in 2012?Reference to Peter Zumthor

The architecture is a place of memory and poetry. In 2012, however, it is often very difficult to find a place for reflection and transcendence within the city. That's why man tooks refuge in places surrounded by nature or searches for space isolated from the confusion of the life, where stop to meditate.In the 21th century man is often superficial in his actions and a lot of time his examples of architecture derived only from functional and aesthetic research. The emotional and sensational aspects are often forgotten.The physical or eye contact with nature is a possible mode of relationship with spirituality, but also the environment in which man lives can be an expression of memory.So man needs a place where doesn’t feel lost in his life, but where can reflect on its meaning. Many values of the 20th century, expressed in architecture, painting, music, writing, can be preserved in the society of the 21st century with the creation of poetic places where cultivate a sense of time.

"We cannot remember without architecture" but often spaces of poetry exist far from the city.

This feeling will develop naturally being part of the form and history of the place.

This approach leads to the architectural intervention of Peter Zumthor in Gugalun House. He has preserved the history of the house and his family, not only maintaining the access of the house that continues to be the same as before, but also by creating a link between the old and the new. His architecture is a time of reconciliation of memori-es and an extention of the house in time. When the wood used in his intervention will become of the same color as the one of the old house, then there will be a perfect blend of past and future and a reconciliation with the memories of the house.

Conclusion of the cultural concepts Revival and Transcendence of Memories

This realm is unrestrained from order and rule but instead it allows the person's memories to be in control. A building that integrates the past of the site through the restoration of any existing building elements is crucial to reviving its memory. The ability to explore the history of a building, through both physical elements and the transcendence of space, infinitely increases the qualities of the architecture.

An architectural space has the ability to evoke memories through two forms of expression: transcendence and revival. Through the exploration of the human sense, a person is able to experience the building in the present while also simultaneously experiencing the past of the space. This changing of time evokes memories of place. It also allows a person to transcend from the physical constraints of the building and enter into a spiritual reality.

At the end of twentieth century, life becomes too hectic and fast in the cities. Time is money, and life is to earn money and spend it. If you are a tourist you must see all important monuments of a country in a few days. But now society is realizing that this is not a quality life.Enjoy something makes you happier than just to see a lot of things. The experience of being a part of the production of a wine it's better than only drink it. Connect with a place, its culture and landscape, make it yours, transcends the complexity of wine and becomes a liquid memory.This is what the family has in mind when realized that the house designed by Souto de Moura was unique.

A Place of Slow LifeHouse at Baião

Not only rent the house for normal tourism, but looks for some selected customers with a commitment with a project of life. They could come to the house some weeks year after year, learning about the process of making wine, culture and nature of the region as well. Of course, they could relax in the courtyard enjoying the landsca-pe with friends, and wine inside everyone glass.Beyond the economical factors is the concern about sustainabi-lity of the nature, a culture, a landscape, a way of life that must be recovered from tradition, there is no need to imagine a completely new life, just the revival of a life that always have been there.

Fig10. First drawing of the general actions to produce, store and tasting wine.

Fig11. Second drawing of the general actions to produce, store and tasting wine.

The Wine and its ProductionThe Cultural element can turn the 20th century house into a 21th century house

At the end The Baiao House is chosen for being analyzed and turned into an house of the 21the century. The analysis of the cultural context in which the House at Baiao is placed, it’s essential to understand the possibilities of transformation of the house.The Baiao House is situated in the district of Oporto, an area of Portugal, which is characterized by an extension of vineyards. The local cultural tradition is to organize many events related to wine tasting, there are in fact many wineries in the area. The Port is the tipical wine of this place. Here, in this land, the gaze is lost in miles and miles of rows of vines, and the port is a nectar of passion, just because it comes from the sweat of the people who have always struggled with the bare rock. Wine routes are endless, but also fragrant, tasty and clear. The cultural element is the wine and the general action is to turn this house into a place where the wine becomes the site of memory, pleasure and sharing.

The house is rent to a kind of client that wants try to discover or rediscover the pleasures of nature, contact with the product and attention to the phases of production of the wine.So the house becomes a place away from the city where know the culture of the region through wine. A slow system that attracts refined tourism that searches for diversity and quality life.About the production of the wine, all phases are important, from planting, watering, pruning, harvesting, crushing. It's necessary to analyze each action and its requirements.Customers have to be the actors of all these phases. It’s important think the way in which make them sharers and at the same time how to create place where taste wine and enjoy the view of the vineyards.It can be fascinating also the idea of including the possibili-ty to enjoy wine therapy treatments and place where organize event.

Requirements of the Wine and its Production

SPACE REQUIREMENTSDepending on the amount of land available, it's possible to quantify the grapes that can be grown and the wine that can be get. In a ground of 1 hectare, it’s possibile plant a number of vines that can give about 350 kg of grapes for year. This quantity of grapes can give 220 liters of wine at the year, putted into about 291 bottle of o,75cl. These numbers act as guide values.But the number of the vines to plat depends on the distance required between the plants. The minimum space is 2 meters for allowing the passage of a tractor during the care of the earth and also for makingthe easy movements during the collection phase.

The first phase required to the organization of space and time as a function of the production and tasting wine, it's to list all the requirements.Three types of requirements are identified: space, time and movement.

Each microaction is in relation to a given period of time and a season. The times for pruning is the early spring and late fall. The fertilizing starts in the second year from first bud till mid july and the gathering begins 3 or 4 months after bloom. About all the process of trasformation of the grapes into the wine, it’s necessary that the wine stays in the bottle for minimum 8 month. After this period it can be tasted, but its quality depends also on how long it stays closed in the bottle at a specific temperature.

After the harvesting, the grapes are characterized by a lot of treatments. The spaces of working and transformation of grapes into wine must be well connected and related. The collection is followed by crushing, pressing and stabilize-ring. The liquid so obtained is putted for the fermentation in wooden barrels at very low temperatures. When the fermentation is complete the wine is putted into bottles. For this action it’s needed a well-designed space. The spaces must be designed to facilitate the various phases.

TIME REQUIREMENTS

MOVEMENT REQUIREMENTS

Action: Press the Grapes

Press the grapes with the feet in the vats and with music: it’s one of the most romantic and evocative images of harvest time, which was a festive occasion, as well as work. In popular tradition, it was recommended the old custom of treading barefoot to avoid crushing the stalks.

The grape bunches are collected in a special vat of wood inserted in the largest one; the vat has an opening to allow the flow of the wort in the larger container.

The study of human dimensions and the number of people who done the action, can help to have informations on the size and on the capaci-ty they should have the vats.

During the pressing phase the human figure makes small movements in all possible directions. If the action is accompanied by music, it can be assumed movements of greater amplitude, so the space needed for the movements expands.

HUMAN DIMENSION & AREA OF MOVEMENTS

It would be ideal to also study the safety aspects of the action. The movements of people who press the grapes can be dangerous for the stability of the vats. This observation is an element useful for a careful design of the space where the action happens.

A Section of a detailAction: Press the grapes

Fig.13 Detailed plant.

Fig12. Detailed section.

The action of press the grapes requires a space easily accessible and cleaned. For this reason the action takes place in the paved area in front of the house.Each vat is recessed in the paving stone about 20 cm to make it safe during its use, when operators perform the action moving inside. In this way you it’s possible displa-cement is avoided.To prevent tipping of the vat, it’s placed around it a stone element with a backrest which has at the same two different functions: locking and seat.

20 c

m

Between a stone seat and another, there are flowerbeds. Specifically, there are flowers and spices that recall the smell and the mind with pleasant aftertaste typical of the wine: rosmary, sage, timo, cloves.This creates an atmosphere in which the pleasure of wine invades more than one sense: touch pressing the grapes, sight through the view of vineyards, taste sipping a glass of wine and smell sniffing and enjoying the spicy flavors.

The stone element in addition to being functional, can be considered as a furnishing element ion of outer space. In fact, it’s a seat where the client can sit and enjoy the view of the vineyards and sip a glass of wine.This stone element not completely surrounds each vat, but in situated only in some places more favorable to prevent dangerous movements during the press the grapes and at the same time in a point of the outdoor space favorable to enjoy an optimal view. So around each vat there are mre than a single seat.

VIEW OF THE VINEYARDS

VIEW

OF

THE

VIN

EYAR

DS

SPIECES AND FLOWERS

ROSMARY

SAGETIMO

CLOVES

Team ConversationReflection, comparison, survey and analysis

RENTERS AND REQUIREMENTSWho is the client nowadays? What are the looking for when renting that house? Would the house be more successful to rent if you add, remove or transform something? So perhaps we should focus more on the house as a rental property. We could relate this to the issue of how a tempo-rary house (rental unit) retains memory. Does it hold the memories of all of the renters? Do certain memories override others? Or can a house hold different memories for multiple families? What role does the ruins play in this multiple memory situation?

MEMORY AND SUSTAINABILITY[…]the house was built as a holiday´s house,and so that is the main problem to sell the house, maybe now the idea of been a shared house for some families and keep the house occupied almost the year. this way we incorporate the idea of sustainability in the project and how the house can be modified for many families requirements. also we must think about some parts of the house that makes memories, like how they use in some ways the ruins, like... for reading, or for have lunch on windy days.

FLEXIBILITY […]some flexibility, maybe the finality for the house is to forget that another family were there with the capacity to change…idea of flexible memories and flexible space.

USE OF THE RUINSThis is a lost place with beautiful views with a large space in which the children can play and all people can walk. In addition, the ruins can serve to attract tourists because this is something curious[…]What if the ruins are the center of the house?, the communication with outside? what if there are more habitational units around the ruins?

PLACE FOR RENT NOT FOR MEMORYI think what the house intended to show was the idea of connecting with our roots and past, trying to connect different generations. but now its up for rent, and so its become a place of profit and no longer a place for memori-es.

VALUES OF A PLACEMy grandpa used to tell me stories of how he lived when he was a child. He had twelve brothers and sisters, he used to tell me about family values in that space. So a few years ago I went to visit this old house, it was a farm. And I guess seeing that space, I understood more about what he meant about family values. How life is sustained in that one that, how we learn to live in that house, and then how we take those values and apply it to new places we live. His house now is like an homage to his childhood home, it looks nothing like it, but the feeling is the same

TRANSFORMATION BEGINS WITH A CULTURAL ELEMENT

“Look at the real evolution of the cultural notion that generated the houses, and then to apply to your proposal. The aim is to transform those XX century homes into XXI century way of living.Possible questions could be: Who is the client today? The same?If it is so, then in what way has his/her condition/situation changed?What change/removal or transformation would help to adjust to the new situation? If the owner is new, what attracted him/her to the house and what change/removal or transformation has to be done to meet the desires/situation of the new owner?If you find the cultural response to these questions, the transformation of the homes will be fluid. The role of the architect will be “natural” without a need to invent a solution. It will be a response to the new questions.”

SLOW DOWN LIFE OF TODAY SOCIETYThe house nowadays is a space that is expressive of the present because we are trying to slow down that process of modern day living. Its a contemporary way of thinking in todays society. Like we are trying to grow more organic food, trying to eat “slower” (i mean, less fast foods), trying to make life healthier. But also turning to nature, and our environment in order to generate more thinking, less materialism and more idealism.

HOUSE, A PART OF COMMUNITYSo it is as if this holiday house is part of a community, this family, and they are able to insert part of themselves into the house. And it is therefore a collective memory of the families ancestors (the ruins/farmhouse) and what family values are like in the present. So that if we lose sight of our memories of families and of fun and vacation, we just end up there. And everyone has their own interpretation of the space, but the sensation of being there and living in that environment is understood by that community.

INTEGRATION OF RUINSIN THE HOUSE

Right now the ruin only functions as an entrance, it is a beautiful gesture because it is as if we are transcending from the past to the present. The idea of the threshold..but I do agree that it must be integrated into the house, people should live in that space. what if we make that space like the blas house second floor? that space must be a platform that rise the vision over landscape, maybe just stairs and a little platform on the top.

FAMILY, CULTIVATION OF THE EARTH[…]a family that was very supportive of farming, and harvesting the land. Being a self-sustaining family that grew their own garden and lived off the land. Because that site it is a hub for agriculture. There is even an old water basin they used for hot weather that already exists on the site.

ANALYSIS OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS

Today the customer who rents the house baiao can be a family or a group of friends who want to enjoy a close contact with nature. A rediscovery and reinterpretation of the memory of the senses. Breathe in the smell of the earth, hear the roar of the river Douro, taste the typical products of this land (a good glass of wine, the site is surrounded by vineyards). The idea to imagine in this house for someone who wants to live a long life in contact with nature, farm and eat the products obtained, it is impossible for economic reasons. (We read the rental prices. During cheaper is 750 euro a week but it also reaches to 1600 euro per week)So imagine a stay up to one month.But the house could be rented to someone who needs a place of inspiration, meditation and tranquility away from the bustle of the city. (A painter, a musician, a writer, an architect, a photographer ..)Given the variety of possible customers you could think about adding a room to the house completely empty to be used all'attavità that you need to perform. If it is a family maybe a room to devote to children to play, or a room where you can compose music or paint. Or maybe this room may already be equipped.As regards the ruin believe should be the core of the house. First of all, should be transformed into a usable environment: closed even with the glass does not change the relationship with nature.We liked the idea of Brea to transform the ruins of the house or in the hall or in a place where every "visitor" can leave a memory. Maybe a room in which to gather photos of all those who have lived a short snippet of their lives in this place, or where to leave a memory of what this place has allowed us to create photographs, paintings, poems, sketches). This will transform the ruins in a small museum.Or turn the ruin into a small library where you can read the books or leave one as evidence of their passage.

LOOKING FOR CULTURAL ELEMENTThe Baiao House is situated in the district of Oporto, an area of Portugal, which is characterized by an extension of vineyards. The local cultural tradition is to organize many events related to wine tasting, there are in fact many wineri-es in the area.We hypothesize that the homeowner owns a vineyard and decides to allocate part of the ground in front of the house to garden for the cultivation of local products and reuse the ruin as a place for family consumption of agricultural products and the wine produced.

The ruins would be transformed into the a meeting place (monthly or periodic) for the family of the owner of the house. A place to spend time together and cultivate the memory and tradition of the family through food and wine. The flavors become the seat of memory.In terms of architectural interventions could put a floor in the ruins and a glass roof, so as to protect and make accessible this meeting place without damaging and interfering with the historical and natural element of ruin.Outside, next to the garden fot the cultivation, put the stone seats (in order to establish a connection with the material of ruins) with different functions: 1) sessions designed to accommodate the family at the time of tasting and to enjoy a view of the landscape 2 ) place of simple socializing and sharing 3) plan where put products of the cultivation during the harvest.

ACTION AND EVOLUTION(ACTION) The house comes about because the vineyards need care. Ever year the family come together to share a feast of the garden in memory of the grandmother and to harvest the grapes in order to make wine.(EVOLUTION- evolution of the vineyard too- the family matures as the vineyards do too) The grandfather who was once the provider is now becoming the person in need. (much like ancient buildings are being treated in society-they are in need, and no longer powerful figures that contribute to modern society) This is the evolution of the father’s role in the family that corresponds to the use of the house. Just like the house and garden was a place that supported the family, without care and repair or growth, the house reverts back to its ruins. It is life that sustains it.

CULTURAL RESEARCH- the wine is the connecting theme/action- don't kill grandma!- get architecture from vineyard traditions- look into ecological tourism- fixed vs. non fixed elements (like mobile furniture, modular units, technology)- idea of sharing the house with the owners (the grandpa-rents) and the renters (through ecological tourism)- the concept of common space vs. private space

ECOTURISM- Participation of local people in tourism activities- Tourism compatibility with the environment and society of the place- Local economic development- Rational management and protection of natural resources- The aim is the benefit of economic activities

Behind the development of this type of tourism, there are socio-cultural reasons, such as the re-legitimation of the growing world of agriculture, the desire of discovery or rediscovery of the territory. There are specific types of Ecotourism, but I think the so-called Wine Tourism interests to us, where the wine is the symbol of a culture and a territory.

TYPE OF TOURISTThis type of tourist (and therefore customer for our house) is attracted by the myth of the great wine, the desire to see where he was born. The visit is not only an aesthetic but also participates. The food and wine can be an expression of local culture as well as the landscape.The wine tourist is oriented towards services, wanting to enjoy a real holiday to meet its needs for leisure and relaxa-tion, escape from everyday life.The product is seen as "ownership of the land."

WINE THERAPYThe growing interest in the culture of wine, which has developed in recent years a wine and food tourism has led to re-evaluate the use of its properties in other areas not related to the sense of taste.Many resorts in Europe offering wine therapy treatments, especially in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy.The concentration of tourism products related to wine therapy occurs in areas that matter a higher concentration of wineries and can also boast production of fine wines.Proponents of Vinotherapy say that the effects of it, as well as rejuvenate the skin, improve tone and moisturize, provide a little extra pop to the muscles of the arms.One of the many practices of wine therapy is to subject the body to total or partial baths in wine. Lately very successful cure "bath in a barrel of wine" In fact, this practice was already widespread in popular medicine in the past.

WINE AND REQUIREMENTS VINEYARDSVineyard Requirements- steady water supply - adequate drainage (relates to slope)- rooting depth of 30 inches- slight slope is important (2-5%)- avoid depressions, valleys - eastern exposure (slope faces east)- average small vineyard is 0.2 square km - vignette: 500 square meter vineyard which is part of a larger consolidated vineyard that deals with grape mainte-nance and production operations (this could be an option since the site doesn't seem to be that large. It could also be interesting to link the House in Baiao to another vineyard near by that also deals with ecotourism)- about $100 per square foot for construction of vineyard and $50 000 for all mechanical equipment[...]

TEAMWORKTeamwork is always extremely challenging, but at the same time thoughtful. Reconcile and report the thoughts and intentions of many people it’is verydifficult. Requires want to listening and dialogue, but also curiosity and research. The study, analysis and ideas on possible transformations of the house were numerous. Along the course of this work, several times the team stopped on issues or aspects that were not too great, but these mistakes led to make more reflections and helped to find the right action to take.The interpretation of a building and its possible development are actions that certainly involve the subjecti-vity of each team member. Collectively describe a concept or action through a drawing, a photomontage or a text, it’s hard difficult because one hand has to melt and express the thoughts of many minds. Therein lies the coordination skills of the group. But the desire to work and knowledge hasn’t led to obstacles at work, the collaboration has been a time of personal growth but also cultural relations.

Bibliography

Douro,the river which tastes like wine

“If Bacchus had tasted the "port" would become one of his biggest supporters, "I am convinced the inhabitants of the Douro Valley in Northern Portugal, the birthplace of the famous fortified wine. It certainly would love even in the area of production: a band of approximately 250,000 hectares (up to begin Barquei-ros up to Barca d'Alva) near the Douro

River (east of the city of Porto), which represents one of the most beautiful rural landscapes, man-made and is the oldest wine region in the world, a title he has held since 1756. In this area you can find more than 36 brands of "Vinho do Porto", whose prestige and excellen-ce is exactly given by the particular climate in which the grapes ripen.”

LaRepubblica.itItalian news online

“I would like a lifetime spent with an irrational and suspicious goddess, some short-tempered jealousy on the side, and a bottle of wine that tastes like you, a glass that's never empty.”It's the story of a British investment broker inherits his uncle's chateau and vineyard in Provence, where he spent much of his childhood. He discovers a new laid-back lifestyle as he tries to renovate the estate to be sold.

A Good YearMovie

Mymovies

www.oporto.netwebsite

SidewaysMovie

Mymovies

“I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing; how the sun was shining; if it rained. I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes. And if it's an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve, like if I opened a bottle of wine today it would taste different than if I'd opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive. And it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity.”

Wine routes are endless, but also fragrant, tasty, clear as crystal of a balloon. The taste of these emotions have created a film, a road movie, where the friendship between two middle-aged men, is the bittersweet reflection on continuing to be a "novel" or young people appreciate the pleasures of maturity.

“It's uh, it's thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It's, you know, it's not a survivor like Cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and uh, thrive even when it's neglected. No, Pinot needs constant care and attention. You know? And in fact it can only grow in these really specific, little, tucked away corners of the world. And, and only the most patient and nurturing of growers can do it, really. Only somebody who really takes the time to understand Pinot's potential can then coax it into its fullest expression."

The fundamental difference of port

wine with other wines, brandy is

added to stop fermentation. In this

way preserves the original sweetness

grapes maintaining a high level of alcohol

The OportoRight across from the city of Porto, in the town of Vila Nova de Gaia, the location of most of the wineries in which for hundreds of years older fortified wine world's most famous: the Porto.

Ecoturism

Wikipedia.orgwebsite

Characteristics of Ecoturism

- It does not cause degradation or resource depletion or minimize the impact.

- It focuses on the intrinsic value of natural resources in response to a more biocen-tric than anthropocentric philosophy.

- To the ecoturist it’s required to accept the environment in its reality without trying to change it or adapt it to his advantage.

- It’s based on the direct with the environment and is inspired by a cognitive dimen-sion direct.

The Douro Valley, and the border between Boatmen, is the result of the wonders of nature, but also the effort and energy expen-ded by humans in their transformation. The vineyard that produces the grapes of the famous Port wine is the cause and the reason most of all this hard work. Centuries of toil, fatigue and human sweat, desventra-ram land, removed the massive shale, framed the walls and heights of terraces to stow the vines, raising this colossal work, which would reward the Marquis of Pombal, in the eighteenth century, with the title of first demarcated region in the world.

The Douro Valley

www.visit-douro.comwebsite

A treaty which, starting from genetics and physiology of lives, moves to technical issues such as the planting of the vineyard and soil management, providing the essen-tial elements for a quality viticulture. Topics such as irrigation techniques, there are also techniques of defense against adversity, the methodologies to be adopted in organic viticulture and suggestions on the choice of varieties.

Editor : Il sole 24 ore edagricole

Manuale di viticolturabook

"Ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas, preserving the environment and supporting the well-being of local people"

The 7 most beautiful places to Ecotourism

www.vanillamagazine.itnews online about architecture, technoligy and design

The goal of an eco-tourist is usually to discover the nature of the planet, away from the concrete and asphalt which is now used by the city life.

The crushing of grapes

www.vinimania.comwebsite

Making Wine: the Must

www.diwinetaste.comwebsite

Autor: Dantolo VincenzoEditor: Giovanni SilvestriEdition Year: 1812

Enology,or the art of making, storing and traveling to the wines.book

Once, as we know, the grapes were trodden and that, even if hygienically little reassuring, could have a good result. It was in fact a pressing "soft", which is not squeezing the stalk, which contains substances which give the wine a harsh taste.The first step is crushing that if fast or slow, strong or light, give the wine different characteristics

From the technical point of view, the must is the product which is obtained from fresh or ammostata - with or without stems and skins - through mechanical pressing, draining and pressing. When you consider the must as the result of pressing the grapes without further proceedings, it is composed of 80 to 85% from the pulp, 10-15% of the skins, seeds, or 5% of seeds. During the stage of pressing - which consists in crushing the berries - you run generally also the so-called stripping, ie the separation of the stalks with the aim of not excessi-vely enrich the wort of coarse tannins: an operation practically indispensable for must intended for the production of white wines.

Wort is the liquid fraction of the pressed grape - juice - made up of 70-80% water, 10-30% sugar (mainly fructose and glucose) as well as minerals, nitrogenous (inorganic and protein), polyphenols (tannins and coloring matter) and organic acids. The marc is the fraction of solid pressed grapes these parts fibrous pulp, seeds and peel.

Winemaking,Conservation,Viticulture.

Re-reading Architecture

The starting point for the re-reading of architecture is an house in Portugal, the House at Baiao, designed for a family where to go every weekend to enjoy the pleasures of nature. After a few years, for the busy life of family without free time during the weekends, the house was rented.A rented house and the needs of future customers are the starting elements of the study and the transformation of the house. What can attract the customers here and what can offer them this place? It 's the initial question that has set the team. The investigation, before of the architectural changes of the existing house, covers the social and cultural context in which the house takes place.The house is a place of tranquility and relax away from chaotic and everyday life, but expanding the view it’s possible see that the house is situated in an area covered with vineyards. The vineyards and the wine are culture and tradition typical of Portugal and the elements through which focus a new vision of home.There is the analysis of what this place offers, and at the same time what the potential customer requirements are. How to involve emotions, sensations and customer interests.The house hasn’t to be a place where customers can watch the vineyards, drink wine and enjoy nature as external actors. Here the tourist leaves his clothes and becomes a inhabitant of this place.

sCultivate the land with his own hands, smell the scent of grapes that collects and then turns into wine tasting. It’s a form of tourism focused on the quality of life and the integration of the customer in the place.located the cultural element, the analysis starts about individual actions that can be performed and architectural requirements that flow from it.So the house can be transformed but remaining rooted in its context and also purchasing a social value..Understand, evaluate and imagine the life of clients and their needs, it’s a form of exercise to the real work of the architect. For the design of a house is important the communication between architect and client. The reading of a house requires this dialogue architect-client and also a deep study of time in which the house was built and now lives. There is a time made by needs and moods of the customer and a time determined by historical-cultural factors. The socio-cultural analysis allows for a broader view of the context in which the project is inserted.The feelings and passions help to draw and imagine a house, often detached from the time it belongs to. It's possibile find the belonging time through a deeper and reflective look inside the cultural, social and architectural heritage.Only then an architect can make a correct writing and reading of architecture.