The ideas of architecture and identity are deeply intertwined within buildings, often with demarcated, obvious boundaries—in varying degrees of comprehensibility—separating them from their context. On one far end of the spectrum, buildings are deeply embedded into their surroundings so much so that the edges become indiscernible. The idea, nevertheless, far precedes the conceptual establishment of organic architecture and biophilic design into the mainstream. From the yposkafa or the cave houses of Santorini, where houses were sculpted into volcanic rocks, to the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, the well-preserved prehistoric, ancestral settlements of the Puebloan people, spatial formations through the creation of voids in extant landscapes or geographies is an age-old phenomenon.

The underlying theme of architecture being intrinsically rooted in its context manifests itself in varying degrees—some patent examples being the Desert House by Kendrick Bangs Kellogg, Villa Vals by SeARCH and CMA and the Aamdavad ni Gufa by BV Doshi. Charles Correa's Bharat Bhavan is another succinct case, which the Indian architect and urban planner described as a ‘non-building’ since it did not express an identity independent of its context.

Fitting snugly into the notion of what a ‘non-building’ is, the House in Ribeira dos Moinhos in Portugal, conceived by architect João Cepeda is a negotiation between contrast and camouflage. Located in Castelo Branco, the stone architecture is built inside a cave in a rocky formation next to a small stream. It consists of a simple residential program with a private bedroom secluded in the rear, a connected pool and a large living room facing the east—alongside the bathroom spaces and a ‘rocky’ patio. The residential interiors emulate the monolithic identity of the granite rock the house is built in.

"Amidst a mountainous severity, a small stream river cuts its presence. Time and climate—the ultimate artisans. From this panorama, large blocks of sawn local granite appear, sheltering a small house. Just like the river, this house represents a (brief) moment of ‘reconciliation’ with nature,” the Portuguese architect describes poetically his vision of the residential architecture.

The residential building's concept arose from the site’s distinctive geology, the natural landscape formed of the characteristic granite stone and the river stream. “If, generally speaking, the history of architecture evolved from transforming ideas into the matter, here, the intention was to somehow try to invert this process. Thus, the goal was to, once a form and matter were found, try to transform it into a newly constructed idea, by dignifying it again, with its new housing use. Summing [up], the idea was to give a kind of ‘renaissance’ to an already existing matter, looking to mark the site with an object clearly done by Man, but not ‘hurting’ the natural context of the site, thus utilising the local granite stone of the region,” Cepeda shares with STIR.

The contextual quality of the residential design sets a divergent spatial experience than one would assume—the otherwise austere geometric language of the contextual architecture proffers the feeling of refuge in the jagged rocky landscape it sits in. While patches of nature are seen as providing a pause in the hyper-urbanised landscape of cities, a ‘built’ cabin in the woods is often a place of safety and comfort in the capriciousness of a forest. The private residence, thus, becomes an expression of how the context defines the perceptional quality of built forms.

The large sawn-cut granite blocks from local quarries are a definitive element of the identity of the Portuguese architecture, marking a human presence in the context. Elaborating on the project’s materiality, Cepeda tells STIR, “They draw the exterior cornice and entrance ground ‘plinth’ to the house, that can be seen from the exterior. Their clear ‘geometrism’ intends to translate the ‘human hand’ into its design, and not to design a building that could completely merge with the rock. Nevertheless, it is an object that tries to integrate and harmonise with its contextual ambience, with a rough and austere natural ‘atmospheric’ design, both materially and aesthetically.”

Cepeda hints towards John Ruskin’s influence in this contextual design, a 19th-century English polymath who wrote about the necessity of longevity in his book The Seven Lamps of Architecture: “When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight, nor present use alone; let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for, and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labour and wrought substance of them, ‘See! This our fathers did for us'.”

Cepeda believes this idea challenges Louis Sullivan’s dictum of ‘form follows function’. He argues, “Functionalism, as a ‘rule’ or architectural paradigm, no longer has the same importance that it used to, at least, in my opinion. That was a clear response of Ruskin to his time. Nowadays, what matters most is flexibility. Function and use change almost daily, and buildings and projects need to have the ability to adapt. That is, for me, the true meaning of being ‘sustainable’. If not, buildings will not last and will die sooner than later. Longevity and durability are some of the most important values one must take into account at present.”

“Furthermore, the idea that a space can be defined almost uniquely by its functional purpose, is a belief that, in my view, is very dangerous, as it is truly misleading. How many spaces and buildings do we know, from history, that were meant to be designed by their authors and architects to perform a certain specific function, and afterwards, they never functioned that way, or were used in a completely different manner? To try to design a space in true and direct linearity with its use and function could be a mistake—and thus, we try to give our spaces a response to its functions, but one that has a certain kind of ambiguity, that can thus, instil the space with a certain amount of freedom and future flexibility,” he remarks.

Cepeda’s ideas resonate with sensibilities beyond the consumerist approach towards sustainability, like that of conservation and adaptive reuse. The cycles of demolition and reconstruction of buildings with short lifespans—no matter how equipped they are technologically as sustainable architecture—are often antithetical to the core ideals of sustainability, which is to preserve and protect, and not just embrace new advancements and incessantly apply them as they come. Establishing a sense of affinity and refuge, the House in Ribeira dos Moinhos expresses an attempt at longevity and an identity that shines through without blatantly disturbing or transforming the context.

Project Details

Name: House in Ribeira dos Moinhos
Location: Castelo Branco, Portugal
Typology: Private Residence
Architect: João Cepeda
Year of Completion: 2023