On Wednesday May 24th, 2023 ESO Conference for architecture and design will take place for the eleventh time in a row at Alexandra Trianti Hall, Megaron Athens Concert Hall under the general theme ‘Multiverse’ suggesting the coexistence of multiple diverse forms of physical and artificial life.

Presale tickets are now available (early birds & student fare 25 euros). Book now your tickets, here! 

We focus on a sustainable way to physically inhabit our planet. We crave for the basic principles of coexistence while struggling to protect individuality.  We enter the unknown world of Artificial Intelligence. We explore digital worlds made by humans for humans.

“MULTIVERSE” signifies a range of diverse environments, responding to human needs and moving beyond them, including other forms of physical and artificial life. 

Manuel Aires Mateus will participate on ESO 2023.

Manuel Aires Mateus was born in Lisbon in 1963 and graduated from Faculdade de Arquitectura–Universidade Técnica de Lisboa in 1986. He started collaborating with the architect Gonçalo Byrne in 1983 and started developing projects with his brother, Francisco, in 1988. The office Aires Mateus was then established independently by the two brothers although it was housed in Gonçalo Byrne’s studio in the first years.

The visibility of their work has led to them holding numerous lecturer and instructor positions at several institutions. Among these are Harvard GSD, the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, as well as several others in Portugal.

The design duo along with the team of Aires Mateus & Associates have received several national and international awards for their designs and has been shortlisted for the ‘European Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award’ several times. The firm now spans two studios, both based in Lisbon, and extends to several partnerships with local studios for international work.

Works / Projects 

Aires Mateus architectural office have created numerous both private and public projects of different scales, from family residences to museums and schools. 

Their design is characterised by austere lines and solid volumes, combined in a sculptural way with light and voids. A unique combination of tradition and innovation, their approach is known for the aesthetic and sensibility that it showcases. 

Houses for Eldery People in Alcácer do Sal

A long building volume is designed in combination with a new landscape topography that rises and falls creating different spatial conditions. The landscape and building design is formed based on the reduct mobility of those who will live in the building and aims to provide access to everyone in every part of the site. 

The building is purposed to house a kind of community that will function with its own rules, a combination of a hotel and a hospital, with both private and common spaces. The distance between the independent units is measured and drawn to turn the idea of path into life, and its time into form.

The building, designed path, is a wall that naturally rises from the topography: it limits and defines the open space, organising the entire plot.

“Two-in-one museum”, mudac: museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts in Lausanne, Switzerland

Aires Mateus & Associates created a new building in Lausanne, Switzerland that will house both the Museum of Design and Contemporary Applied Arts (MUDAC) and the photography-dedicated Photo Elysée.

The project is part of the new PLATEFORME 10 art district of the city of Lausanne that opened to the public on June 18th, 2022. The new building is part of an urban regeneration plan that concerns the creation of an art district that will gather numerous museums and will act as a cultural center and an attraction pole for the visitors and citizens. 

This “Two-in-one museum” had to satisfy the need of an abundance of light for the first floor programs and the very limited need of light for the photography museum. 

The element of light determined both the plan and the volume of the design and the spaces were shaped according to the way that light travels through the architecture.

The result is characterised by prismatic geometric forms, concrete surfaces, sharp lines and play of shadow and light. From the outside, the sculptural building appears as two concrete boxes joined by a glass strip or ribbon of light. The space in between the museums contains the public and private facilities as extension of the public esplanade. From the inside, this glass strip, give visitors the illusion as though they are still outside.

Pa.te.os , Melides, Portugal

The recently completed “Pateos” holiday homes in Portugal, concerned the design of four vacation houses near the popular seaside village of Melides. The four properties are available for rent either individually or together, for up to 14 guests.

The architects created minimalist concrete volumes and used as the main design element the “patio”. Each residence is connected with one in a different way, having a unique layout and offering different experience and views of the natural landscape.

Design’s aim was to full-fill client’s wish for a modern vision of hospitality.”We were interested in creating a family of spaces that allow different experiences,” Aires Mateus told Dezeen. “The spaces are always unique, distinguished by the way they open to the outside and how they protect different living experiences.”

Images source: https://www.dezeen.com/2022/12/30/pateos-houses-alentejo-manuel-aires-mateus/

Presale tickets are now available (early birds & student fare 25 euros). Book now your tickets, here! 

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