Marco Arraiolos: Apartment in Estrela

Portuguese architect Marco Arraiolos has recently completed the renovation of an early 20th century apartment in the historical neighbourhood of Estrela, in Lisbon. The intervention sought to adapt the house to contemporary needs, promoting a different relationship between living and service spaces, while simultaneously preserving the apartment's unique architectural elements.

The house follows the typology typical to these early 20th century dwellings: it runs from east to west, with enclosures arranged sequentially along a long corridor, most of these being illuminated from an interior courtyard. In Arraiolos's intervention, the original partitioning is rigorously maintained and each compartment regarded as autonomous space to inhabit, capable of receiving a new type of use. The new proposed use for each space is accompanied by a new interaction between them, allowed by the opening of consecutive spans in between rooms.

Altering the original spaces allows for a longitudinal alignment throughout the entire house, and brings natural light to the apartment's innermost compartment, where before there was a notable light deficit. Arraiolos seeks, with the flexibility of this solution, to permit a continuous reinvention of the housing program, changing the proposed use for each compartment as well as the relations between them.

Marco Arraiolos: Apartment in Estrela, Lisbon
Architect: Marco Arraiolos
Client: privato
Intervention: renovation of an early 20th century apartment
Completion: 2012