House on the Flight of Birds

Located on the north side of S. Michael Island in Azores, Portugal, this residence, designed by Bernardo Rodrigues, offers diverse patios and covered courtyards on the ground floor offering protection from rain and opens all living spaces to the natural surrounding landscape by glass walls receded from the exterior. In addition, more enlosed and protected private rooms are found on the upper floor. This strategy effectively responds to the frequent strong winds and showers that are present in this microclimate farmland.

The typology follows an almost classical Palladian and Scamozzi central plan design with a double height living room and then two lateral wings enclosing the kitchen on one and the circulations for the first floor and roof terrace on the other.

Eduardo Souto de Moura Wins the 2011 Pritzker Prize

Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura has been named the winner of the 2011 Pritzker Prize ahead of the official announcement date – the announcement of the $100,000 prize winner was not supposed to happen until April 11, but a Spanish news organization broke the embargo on the story. Souto de Moura has produced a varied body of public and private work, but he is best known for his stadium in Braga, Portugal. His buildings are praised for their use of naturalmaterials. The esteemed 58-year-old architect is the second Portuguese architect to win the award, the first being Alvaro Siza, who nabbed the prize in 1992.

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Green-Roofed Municipal Pools of Povoação, Portugal

Designed by Barbosa and Guimaraes Arquitectos, the Municipal Pools of Povoação in Portugal are housed in a series of basalt rock volumes cut into the side of the hill on a site that was formerly used by the city for outdoor sports. Inside, the building is naturally lit by skylights that pierce holes through the green roof and appear like plugs across the surface.

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