Notes from the studio
Journal
Written between site visits
Short pieces on materials, drawing and the slow parts of building. We write one when we have learned something.
Why we still draw every joint by hand
A drawing at full scale tells the joiner what a screen never will.
Sheet 08
Arroios, Lisbon
Drawing
A year of north light
We photographed the same wall every week for a year. Here is what we learned about orientation.
Sheet 07
Arroios, Lisbon
Rooms
The tiles we kept
Every old flat has one wall nobody dares to touch. In Graça, it was a panel of tiles from the 1890s.
Sheet 06
Graça, Lisbon
Rooms
Oak, three ways
The same plank of oak can look like three different woods. We leave the samples in the room for a week before choosing.
Sheet 05
Arroios, Lisbon
Materials
Measuring an old house
No wall in a house from 1755 is straight. The first survey takes two days, and we do it by hand.
Sheet 04
Alfama, Lisbon
Drawing
The cork question
Portugal grows half the world’s cork. We are still learning how to use it well inside a house.
Sheet 03
Arroios, Lisbon
Materials
It starts with a visit
Shall we walk through your rooms together?
Tell us about the place, the people who live there and what is not working. We reply within three working days.