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Ode to Lisbon Design Looks Like an Ode to Cinder Blocks

Lisbon-based architectural office ARX Portugal—known for its predilection for bunker-like, industrial dwellings—designed this blocky townhouse, a white, limestone edifice with a posterior wall made up nigh-entirely of windows. Despite sharing the same tall, narrow build as its neighbors, the five-story, stern structure easily stands out amongst its more jaunty peers. Oddly enough, the project was meant to be reflection of Lisbon architecture—working within the roughly 20-foot-wide by 49-foot-deep frame many of the city's buildings follow.

The backside of the apartment building is also somehow meant to represent classic Lisbon style, in the way the sun streams in and creates "horizontal strips and vertical bars" of light—which seems universal to all windows, but sure. The interiors are something else entirely. Made from bare concrete, the walls, ceilings, staircases, and paved outdoor patios all have the same dull gray finish, accented by just a smattering of birch wood elements. The result is chilly but also pleasingly fluid, in the way the downstairs dining room and kitchen and the upstairs bathrooms, bedrooms, and office all blend together in a gray wash. Dezeen has the rest of the photos, this way.

· House in Lisbon [Architizer]
· Townhouse in Lisbon by ARX Portugal [Dezeen]