BRITO.RODRIGUEZ

A SINGLE FAMILY HOME

South Texas . 2023 - ongoing

Design Project

A FARMHOUSE + BARN

Central Texas . 2022

Design Project

A SINGLE FAMILY HOME ON A PASTORAL HILL

The horizontal intervention provides a silent dialogue with the surrounding pastoral hills. Two volumes articulated by the void of the main entrance, reach their greatest expression in the nuances of light and shadow. The white surfaces reveal a profound tranquility, while the simplicity of the volumes, essential and elemental, accentuate their lightness and the relationship with the serene atmosphere. The mild winters with sunny days and hot summers influence the character of the space and the view is directed outwards and beyond its limits to experience the subtle sensory impressions of the environment.

Óbidos, Portugal . 2007-10
Design Project . 360 m2 . 3875 ft2

A REHABILITATION PROJECT OF TWO DERELICT BUILDINGS

A rehabilitation project consisting of two derelict buildings, only the exterior perimeter walls were left standing. The proposal aims to address the construction deficiencies while preserving the identity, uniformity and harmony of aesthetic, historical, architectural and urban contextual relationships to the existing buildings of the village of Óbidos. The patio and exterior environment, adjacent to the surrounding medieval castle wall, is an extension for and essential to the sensory experiences and recreational activities.

Óbidos, Portugal . 2009-12
1st prize competition . 160 m2 . 1722 ft2

An apartment remodel located near Lisbon.

Parede, Portugal . 2018 - ongoing
Design Project . 90 m2 . 969 ft2

A SINGLE FAMILY HOME WITHIN A RURAL TOWN.

South Texas, USA . 2019
Design Project . 270 m2 . 2900 ft2

A SINGLE FAMILY HOME WITHIN A FIELD.

South Texas, USA . 2021
Design Project . 210 m2 . 2260 ft2

A SINGLE FAMILY HOME WITHIN A RURAL TOWN.

South Texas, USA . 2020
Design Project . 140 m2 . 1507 ft2

A SINGLE FAMILY HOME WITH A VIEW.

Between the Monumental and the Intimate.

Óbidos, Portugal . 2019
Design Project . 320 m2 . 3445 ft2

SOON.

Coahuila, Mexico . 2019
Design Project . 100 m2 . 1076 ft2

AN INTIMATE RURAL RETREAT FOR A COUPLE.

Alentejo, Portugal . 2019
Design Project . 100 m2 . 1076 ft2

A SINGLE FAMILY HOME WITHIN A CLEARING.

South Texas, USA . 2021
Design Project . 180 m2 . 1938 ft2

A SINGLE FAMILY HOME WITHIN A RURAL TOWN.

South Texas, USA . 2018
Design Project . 200 m2 . 2153 ft2

SOON.

Coahuila, Mexico . 2018
Design Project . 150 m2 . 1615 ft2

Multi-family housing typologies that celebrate a rural simplicity referential to the agricultural region, with a single building material capable of withstanding the subtropical weather conditions of the environment.

South Texas, USA . 2015
Design Project . 1695 m2 . 18250 ft2

THE CONCEPT OF PERMANENCE AND SHELTER

Marfa is located within the Chihuahuan Desert, isolated within an expansive territory, between the Davis Mountains and the Big Bend Park. The project emerges from the ground, expressing the serene qualities of the place. Spaces are organized between patios, where elements of nature provide a secluded atmosphere and moments of solitude; senses are magnified and one can relate with the limits of space where gradual changes of light take place and sensory experiences are stimulated with the sounds and smell of the enclosure. Walls are built from the ground, their expression are anonymous.

Patios are places of silence, where gradual change takes place and sensorial experiences are stimulated; spaces of intimacy, reflection and contemplation.

Marfa, Texas USA . 2014
International competition . 1365 m2 . 14693 ft2

A public space is a generative hub of collective memories, actions and meetings as well as individual moments of tranquility. A variety of spaces contribute to a broader range of experiences with uses that respond to the neighborhood while strengthening social relations and the community environment. The park is the center of activity acting as a venue for cultural events, drawing in visitors from the surrounding context while becoming a vibrant public environment. The use of water and vegetation differentiate the spaces and allow for a multiplicity of landscape experiences, programmatic uses and activities.

South Texas, USA . 2018
Design Project . 50 m2 . 540 ft2

Intimate landscapes with subtle paths, earthy scents and glistening rays of light captured between leaves within secluded atmospheres. Platforms emerge from subtle gestures that are generated from the ground and read as part of the landscape. A relationship between landscape and architecture woven intimately and gently into nature, to emphasize and enhance a feeling of closeness through detail and emotions. Natural elements and local materials, the essence of the place, varying transparencies and opacities that embrace the perceived boundaries, the permeability of the surrounding landscape.

Lake District, England . 2017
Design Project . 575 m2 . 6190 ft2

Platforms are firmly placed above and below the ground, where nature articulates the relationship between architecture and landscape. The weight and materiality of the pool in close proximity with the lightness of the pavilion, establishes an intimate dialogue between the horizontal element of water and the density and “naturalness” of vegetation. The pavilion, with filtered transparencies and its inherent subtlety, is both personal and intimate, relating to the body and the senses; textures reach their highest expression in the contrasts of light and shadow, emphasizing the feeling of permanence within the landscape.

Malveira, Portugal . 2016
Design project . 250 m2 . 2690 ft2

The new extension between the Alvar Aalto Museum and the Museum of Central Finland, captures moments of intimacy with stimuli created by atmospheres that awaken the senses. A horizontal platform firmly set into the ground accentuates the gentle slope of the existing topography, while a subtle roof enhances the nuances of the place. Shadows, reflections, light and textures intimately penetrate the interior and reveal the seasonal transformation of the trees and the vibrant exterior remains in stark contrast to the interior.

Jyväskylä, Finland . 2015
Short-listed Internatl. Competition . 280 m2 . 3014 ft2

Situated within the South District of Antwerp, Zuid is a vibrant and lively neighborhood with a strong influence by the local art scene. The aim is to create a unique and high-quality urban space, a new destination for cultural events for the citizens, visitors and daily appropriation of space for local residents. The new square will be articulated and structured as an open public space with a clear sense of permeability and accessibility. It will enhance the spatial, visual and physical connections from the city to the river.

Antwerp, Belgium . 2015
International Competition . 30000 m2 . 322917 ft2

An apartment remodel located within a historic neighborhood.

Lisbon, Portugal . 2015
Design Project . 105 m2 . 1130 ft2

A PATIO WITHIN A GARDEN

Only the exterior walls remain standing of a building located within an urban context. The owner intends to expand his cannery headquarters into the adjacent building. The project values the use of exterior space and generates a place for gathering friends, families and colleagues. Guests can visit the cannery headquarters and experience a singular atmosphere; providing a unique space for food tasting where people can meet within an intimate environment.

South Texas, USA . 2015
Design project . 237 m2 . 2550 ft2

Perched on the mountainside, the project overlooks expansive views of the Bamiyan Valley, the Buddha cliff niches and nearby caves, a place that embraces the memory and history of the Valley. We reclaim the intrinsic value of the place, the relationship established between the cultural landscape and surrounding nature, the concept of permanence and the concept of shelter. The carved space for the Bamiyan Cultural Center relates to the geography of land and its territory while responding to its specific context and the lives of its community and environment.

Bamiyan, Afghanistan . 2015
International Competition . 2220 m2 . 23896 ft2

A renovation of a multi-use commercial building located within a rural historic downtown.

South Texas . 2014
Design Project . 375 m2 . 4036 ft2

A PLACE BETWEEN ELEMENTS OF NATURE

Between the sea and bedrock, a path leads one through elements of vegetation towards the edge of the island. Reduced to a single gesture, it is a subtle yet firm intervention allowing for solitude between walls. This is a place of isolation with your thoughts and memories, where a natural pool of water is discovered; a small refuge within a remarkable landscape. The Pavilion emerges from the crevices of the landscape fresh scents, air and the sound of crashing waves. The poetics of silence and the emotion in architecture. A pavilion for the artist Kate Beck.

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"The mind cannot always live in a 'divine ether'. The lark cannot always sing at heaven's gate. There must exist a place to spring from -- a refuge from the heights, an anchorage of thought.."

- Wallace Stevens

I am a painter.

And maybe even, when I am lucky, a poet.

I live and work by the sea on a quiet shore on the coast of Maine. Here within an extremity of elements, my perceptions are dictated by the very real architectonics of nature -- waves, reflections, refractions, meanderings -- vital motions -- delineating and enveloping an existence. I have been beneath these skies, walking these beaches, swimming in this cold salt water my entire life. This is my place.

Two years ago, I made the acquaintance of Inês Martins de Brito and Gilberto Rodriguez, principals in the studio of Brito.Rodriguez in Lisbon, Portugal. I was instantly smitten by the kindred devotion to place and to humanity as evidenced in their eloquently integrated expressions of architecture and landscape. In these ensuing months, we have entered into a collaborative project together, designed purely around the axis of personal response to our shared sensibilities and works, the sensory experience of place bound by a far-reaching sea.

As the culmination of our collaborative project, Brito.Rodriguez has designed the Pavilion for me, an off-shore pavilion on the outer reaches of Jaquish Island, here in Harpswell, Maine. This single, reaching architectural gesture manifests in contrasting materials of steel, water and bedrock creating a place of intimacy, reflection and contemplation amongst the extreme elements of nature and the sea.

I am most honored and privileged to share in this extraordinary sensorial experience which speaks directly to me, and of me, embracing the components of vital motion that I strive to attain in my large painted and drawn surfaces.

Architecture as an emotive embodiment of light and land mass; an interstice, perhaps, between the collective whole and the resounding context.

I am always attracted to the white field.

The painting is always whole.

Thank you, Inês and Gilberto.

-Kate Beck

WhiteSpot Studio

Harpswell, Maine USA

February 2015

Harpswell, Maine USA . 2014
design project . 230 m2 . 2476 ft2

The focus is on the existing walls of an old market, of great opacity and depth that define and organize the space. The proposal reveals the materiality and expresses the textures of the existing walls. On top of stone walls, lies a horizontal concrete plane that generates a new sociocultural space for the inhabitants of Reinosa, “La Plaza”, preserving its historical, architectural and urban value. Walls, roof, porches, patios and trees define the continuity and spatial fluidity and transform the spaces into a calm and gentle atmosphere; inviting visitors from one enclosure to another.

Reinosa, Spain . 2013
International Competition . 1600 m2 . 17222 ft2

The intervention arises from the physical, materiality and functional conditions of the existing building and aims to emphasize the intrinsic qualities of space without losing the monumental character of the volume. Natural light, diffused and evenly distributed, is absorbed by new massive concrete walls, intensifying the perception of space.

Villaluenga de la Sagra, Spain . 2013
International Competition . 1300 m2 . 13993 ft2

A proposal takes on a deeper understanding and interpretation of the building by enhancing the existing spatial composition and characteristics found within. A relationship is established between the vertical volume of the ‘Great Hall’ and the transverse horizontal exhibition spaces, transforming them into an experience of spatial form and movement. The essence of the proposal is reduced to the mass and solidity of the existing volume against the lightness and subtlety of the gesture while generating open spaces to be altered and transformed by the community.

Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA . 2013
Honorable Mention International Competition . 3250 m2 . 34983 ft2

A MUSEUM IN A RURAL ENVIRONMENT

A vast cotton field consists of subtle elements that define different levels of depth. The tactile and sensorial experience is emphasized by the serenity of the natural environment. In the landscape, attention is focused around the lightness of cotton elements and the direct experience of the place. Within the appropriation of space by movement, the body gently moves forward between elements of cotton and into the ground. The walls become immersed into silence and establishes a relationship with the limits of space, weight and density of the earth. Earth is the chosen material.

South Texas, USA . 2012
design project . 1640 m2 . 17653 ft2

A SECLUDED SPACE WITHIN A RURAL ENVIRONMENT

An immense cotton field is characterized by subtle elements, conveying levels of depth, transparencies and opacities. The movement through space is experienced as an incremental continuous tactile path that is emphasized by the quietness of the landscape. The project is set into the ground to address its density and the serene qualities of the place. Walls are immersed into a state of stillness and silence. One moves continuously through space, from one different ambience into another, from varying qualities of shade and light. These are spaces of serenity and intimacy.

South Texas, USA . 2012
Design Project . 280 m2 . 3014 ft2

A PAVILION IN THE CLEARING OF A FOREST

A serene landscape reveals the natural essence of the environment, intimately filtering the nuances of the place. Subtle movements define the sensorial experience and the progression through space. Enhanced by a new density of natural progression, horizontal elements set into the ground accentuate the rhythm of the natural slope and landscape. In order to evoke the essence of the surface, attention must be focused on the subtlety of details found in the most simplistic forms, where planes capture the light and shadows reveal the edges. A contemplative place for the artist Arjan Janssen.

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If my visual work is brought closer in relation to architecture than the emphasis is often on the expansive, monumental qualities. The paintings, drawings and installations are placed to conquer space. To expand. One in a brutal way and out of the room. To make the experience more meaningful. The collaboration with Brito.Rodriguez has other intentions. Here, the focus is just on the intimacy. The gentle forces are addressed. It is directed inward. Intrinsic qualities are sought for.

Inês Martins de Brito and Gilberto Rodriguez are sensitive architects who make careful decisions to come to a high quality architecture. They are not impressed by grand gestures, but with the nuances of interventions. For me, this is a breath of fresh air compared to the known power architecture. I have the honor that Brito.Rodriguez has designed a studio where I could work. The location is in a wooded area nearby where I live and where I have taken many walks. It is a typical Dutch landscape in which nature, living and working intertwine. We Dutch have little space to use.

Pavilion A is a wonderful design in which I would come fully to my right as an artist. My art moves between being withdrawn into myself and being outwardly directed. A tension that requires a delicate balance. Pavilion A has features of a monastery and is aimed at me with a moral imperative: take your time and dare to isolate yourself. It is a place of profound concentration where works are developed without compromises.

Although my work is always vertically oriented, it is important it is grounded. I try to achieve this by the way I work with the material. You can see and feel the working process in the lines and in the paint. In the composition there are always elements which pull the work downwards. This is important because I think that a human being is willing to transcend, but doomed to fail. It is an ongoing process. Rising up and falling down. Pavilion A underlines this because it gives me a position beneath the surface.

The best way to experience the Dutch landscape is from above. Out of an airplane for instance. From this perspective you can see the urge to planning. And effective dealing with the limited space. You feel that the straight lines from Mondrian could only have been developed over here. I don’t see this happening in Austria... Another characteristic is the strong presence of the horizon and the abundance of open space above. Considering a human being as being vertical, you have the two basic elements from my work present everywhere.

Pavilion A is developed from out of this view, from above. Brito.Rodriguez did not mess with the characteristic features from the Dutch landscape, but instead used the power of it. It is great that the architects have managed to create a design that focuses both on the landscape and on the artist, without denying themselves but rather coming to a strong work in which all their ambitions and abilities have come into its own.

Arjan Janssen . artist

Breda, Netherlands . 2011
design project . 170 m2 . 1830 ft2

A SUBTLE INTERVENTION OUTSIDE A CASTLE

Between the urban landscape and the natural environment exists a path formed by individual elements that adapt to the existing topography. Using subtle movements in broad gestures, horizontal platforms are created that generate intimate spaces. Reflective pools of water are inserted in spaces where one can sit and contemplate the ambience. These conditions are essential for the sensory perception of space and landscape for individuals or a collective whole. Access to the castle is made through the dense woodland providing a proximity to the elements of earth, water and vegetation. A path of rammed earth.

Buñol, Spain . 2011
1st Prize Internatl. competition . 1385 m2 . 14908 ft2

Located in a pastoral environment, the proposal aims to introduce an unobtrusive bridge in response to a very tranquil and historically sensitive landmark and landscape that extends horizontally towards the silhouettes of the embracing mountainous perimeter. A landscape is accentuated by sporadic rows of linear trees that form a rhythmic and pervious pathway with varying shades of densities, allowing the continuation of the landscape to filter through.

Poggio a Caiano, italy . 2011
International Competition . 70 m2 . 753 ft2

A linear intervention between pervious boundaries of vegetation is defined by extending itself over the Piave River. Within this tranquil environment, a simple element accentuates the natural features of the surrounding Alpine landscape, a gesture to reinforce the solidity and mass of the shear cliffs and flowing river below.

Ponte nelle Alpi, Italy . 2011
International Competition . 160 m2 . 1722 ft2

The intervention seeks to maintain the character and identity of the existing buildings and platform, while introducing a transversal relationship between platform, building and landscape.

Santo Tirso, Portugal . 2010
National Competition . 960 m2 . 10333 ft2

An intimate garden retreat for a young professional couple.

Cascais, Portugal . 2010
Design Project . 90 m2 . 969 ft2

A proposal of a volume that rests firmly into the slope of the landscape. A continuous surface, interrupted by a series of patios that give access to the hotel interior. An interior space is filled with natural light and sounds of the neighboring community. A park is introduced as an outdoor public space for both guests and visitors.

Castuera, Spain . 2009
International competition . 2990 m2 . 32184 ft2

An intervention situated within a walled enclosure invites and stimulates the visitor's sensory perception of the topography. A vertical volume is inscribed into the emptiness, contours and limits of the ruins define and organize the spatial composition of the place.

Arraiolos, Portugal . 2008
National Competition . 240 m2 . 2583 ft2

In proposing two buildings for the site along the Lincolnshire coast, the focus is on providing an enclosure of outdoor space that maintains continuity between the town of Chapel St. Leonards and the North Sea. The buildings sit low and firmly into the landscape, securing a perimeter that is visually transparent to capture the natural light and air while creating a sense of openness.

Lincolnshire, England . 2007
International competition . 660 m2 . 7104 ft2

The proposal stands quietly in admiration of both the colossal limestone wall and the majestic mountainous landscape. A relationship is formed between the continuous horizontal wall and the narrow vertical volume. A roof terrace becomes the space where one apprehends the relationship between the archaeological monument and surrounding landscape. The aim of the proposal is to firmly establish a sense of place that is both concrete and specific in order to celebrate the contemplative nature of the archaeological site without de- monumentalizing the existing architecture.

Chachapoyas, Peru . 2007
Honorable Mention Int. Comp. 1500 m2 . 16146 ft2

Tulum is contained between the sea and a dense jungle. Within this intermediate space, a masonry wall clearly defines the boundaries between that which is open and confined. Ruins of great opacity and mysterious depth direct circulation around the site, creating invitations from one enclosure to another. Essentially, the enclosure transmits a feeling of compressed stillness and expansive movement. A subtle and non-imposing gesture reveals itself as two horizontal planes, generating spaces of intimacy. An intervention is perceived on the site, but is only experienced once we penetrate the form.

Tulum, Mexico . 2006
2nd prize international competition . 500 m2 . 5382 ft2