Header: Cesar Bejar
The principals of HW Studio had heard a lot about the Paula Rego Museum, designed by Eduardo Souto de Moura, and had the opportunity to visit it a few years ago. Upon entering the museum, they were immediately moved. Under one of the pyramids, they were enveloped by a sense of awe and indescribable serenity.
Light filtered gently through a high skylight, cascading like golden rays on the museum’s surfaces. Every corner of the building felt bathed in soft, velvety, warm light that touched everything and brought it to life. The way the light descended from those ceilings was soothing, creating shadows and reflections that danced all over the walls and floors. The visitors immediately felt embraced and protected.
In this fascinating world of architecture, several encounters can move our inner selves, light and space become elements that awaken emotions and create transformative experiences. In this context, HW Studio presents its project, Casa Emma.
In this project, the firm sought to convey a sense of serenity and calm through light. They carefully explored how to capture the downward light, creating an immersive experience that aims to touch those who enter the house just as they themselves were touched.
However, unlike Eduardo’s museum, they perceive Casa Emma as an excavation exercise as they carve out a void in the shape of a Purépecha granary, called Troje, for which Emma felt a special fondness and attachment. For this reason, the interior is made entirely of wood, aiming to accentuate this concept and make it more evocative of those traditional constructions with a sense of respect and continuity while still conveying the same feeling of serenity and calm through light that the architects experienced that day.
Being located on a small plot of 4.00 meters x 10.00 meters in depth, it was necessary not only to resolve lighting and ventilation in a zenithal way but also to use space efficiently.
An access corridor was placed at the front to allow entry while concealing the roof, which is revealed further on. In the centre, an open-plan space houses the living room, dining room, and kitchen with no space-draining divisions between them. The refrigerator is concealed at the back, and the utility and storage room is located, along with the vertical circulation, or stairs, that lead the occupant to a small vestibule. That path leads to the full bathroom and the bedroom on the mezzanine level. That space is significant in design, as it is the only element with a different materiality: a white volume that floats within the house. The choice of changing material aims to blur its presence or make it appear lighter as if it were a piece of cotton floating in space. To reach this effect, light needed to diffuse its boundaries through reflection.
The firm’s intention with this project is to provide visitors with an experience that awakens emotions and invites contemplation, attempting to convey the same experience that they themselves experienced that day in Cascáis. The house is an invitation to immerse in a world where light becomes the language of emotions and connection with oneself, a space that pays homage to the beauty of light and Emma, who now welcomes us from heaven.
