designed by portuguese studio paulo moreira architectures, ‘casa zaire’ is a tiny house situated at the rear of a modernist building in rua do zaire, porto. covering it with pink-colored metal sheets, the transformation of this hidden home, where the porter of the main building once lived, has brought it back to life.
all photos by ivo tavares studio
the house’s isolated location in relation to the street and to urban life led the architects to interpret this small building as an autonomous object. on the ground floor, moreira’s intervention consisted of reshaping the connections between areas of the house — the kitchen, side balcony and stairs connecting to lower and upper levels were placed along the outer walls, freeing up the central space for a small dining table.
the existing tiled flooring with white dots on a black background was kept despite its worn look. in the bedroom, a level difference was created, allowing for an optimized storage system under the bed. various adjustments and improvements were made in the bathroom using simple and affordable materials.
small gestures create empathy between the architecture and the mundane objects of the day-to-day routine. particular attention was dedicated to the textures and materiality, producing unexpected relationships between the materials.
designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
edited by: maria erman | designboom
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