Villa dos Coches:
Local History
Rua da Junqueira was named after it’s reeds (juncos), that flanked the area. It was the most direct route to Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Belém. From the 18th century, it was possible to see noble houses in the street’s north area, all derivative from the baroque style.
In the south area, which was a beach until mid 19th’s, the local fishermen would dock there and tie the boats to the existing trees in the river’s shores, a habit that was later prohibited by the town hall. The area became sort of a public walkway until the present day. The actual street designation goes back to the November 28th,1887 editorial, which changed the old name “Rua Direita da Junqueira” to the one we know today.
The landfill in the south side and the consequent detachment from the Tejo allowed it’s normalization as a street. In 1959 gas fueled illumination was inaugurated. In 1901 the tram was inaugurated in Rua da Junqueira and still remains active until today. The street’s name was the only thing that the rushes left, time took care of it by raising a multitude of buildings without which, Lisbon’s history would not be the same.
Villa dos Coches:
Building Story
How can we manage the past with the present day in a time that new trends are coming up every day? How can we still respect the natural landscape without compromising these modern buildings that are functional and auto sustainable as much as possible? How can we establish a healthy conversation between the construction process and monument as a whole, how can we set a difference between private and public spaces among the different building types that are showing up in this part of the city?
Villa dos Coches seeks to provide precise and conclusive answers to the questions raised above. It keeps the architecture inherited from the 18th century for the building facing north, removing all unwanted add ons that were added in the past and, at the same time, it keeps it’s aristocratical vibe. The building facing south, next to the Coach Museum – the name borrowed for our Villa – it’s different regarding style and structure, it takes a discrete contemporary posture with past and present interconnected. Both buildings carry challenges that makes an architectural dialogue difficult. Both buildings seek to answer the questions to those challenges by “communicating” with the surroundings. Both buildings are examples on how to create a futuristic idea for Lisbon, a city so fiercely rooted in its history and memory. Villa dos Coches are city worthy.
