This house in Portugal is reminiscent of Toyo Ito’s U house

In Oeiras, near Lisbon, the OODA studio designs a residence that stands out for its layout, which recalls Toyo Ito's White U House, both in the enveloping geometry of the floor plan and in the section with the sloping roof, as well as in the expressive use of poured-in-place concrete left exposed. However, while Ito's work was closed and introverted, here the ground floor is entirely glazed, a choice that reverses the relationship with the context, optimizes natural lighting, and reinterprets rationalist principles in a contemporary way.

The transparency of the lower band accentuates the contrast with the suspended mass of the upper volume, which seems to float, protecting the generous interior spaces, made possible by the imposing exposed reinforced concrete beams. Warmth and a sense of domesticity are found at the ground level, where wood, stone, and custom solutions foster a continuous domestic connection between the interior and exterior, enhanced by the feeling that the volume emerges from the sloped ground of the hill.

Inside, the structure is evident: the exposed concrete beams define the spatial rhythm and highlight the geometry of the roof. However, the central element of the project is the pool, which stretches from the terrace down to the slope. It measures and multiplies the space through plays of light and reflections, casting glimmers onto the interior surfaces. An essential architecture, where protection and openness find a carefully calibrated balance between weight and lightness.