SOENGAS HOUSES BY CARVALHO ARAÚJO: RECLAIMING MEMORY, FROM STONE RUINS TO MODERN RETREAT

Reclaiming Memory in the Landscape: Contemporary Stone House Rehabilitation by Carvalho Araujo, in Northern Portugal near Peneda-Gerês National Park 

In the mountainous landscapes of northern Portugal, near the Peneda-Gerês National Park, a renewed architectural sensibility is emerging, one that reconciles preservation, memory, and contemporary living through the careful rehabilitation of vernacular stone structures.

The 'Soengas Houses' (project) are located in the Gerês region, within the parish of Caniçada and Soengas, in a site of remarkable natural beauty and densely wooded. This territory, shaped by centuries of rural occupation, is increasingly defined by a culture of architectural rehabilitation, where former dry-stone shepherd dwellings or simple houses are reinterpreted rather than replaced.

Across this region, such projects have become emblematic of a broader commitment to safeguarding both landscape and heritage. Clients seeking to preserve the authenticity of these sites, motivated by ecological awareness as well as a duty of memory, entrust architects with the responsibility of intervening with precision and restraint. These interventions are not acts of erasure, but of continuity: they engage with the past as a living framework for contemporary habitation.

The project, currently in construction, is designed by the Portuguese architect José Carvalho Araújo. It is structured around two pre-existing ruins, whose spatial and material presence already responds to the programmatic requirements. The design strategy prioritizes the conservation of the original exterior stone walls, minimizing impact on the terrain while maintaining the tectonic integrity of the site. The new constructions are conceived as discreet yet deliberate additions, architectural gestures that neither imitate nor dominate, but rather establish a subtle dialogue with the existing fabric.

This approach aligns with the principles of critical regionalism, often associated with the work of Eduardo Souto de Moura. His projects in northern Portugal demonstrate how architecture can emerge from its context, embracing local materials, construction techniques, and topographical conditions, while introducing a contemporary language that enhances rather than disrupts the identity of place.

Internally, the spatial organization is redefined to accommodate evolving modes of living. The architecture seeks to create a multiplicity of uses and atmospheres, allowing inhabitants to experience the site in diverse ways. The structure corresponding to Ruin 1 is conceived as a compact dwelling, a studio house, comprising a living and dining space on the ground floor, and a bedroom with an en-suite bathroom on the upper level. Ruin 2 is reinterpreted as an ancillary volume dedicated to well-being, housing a spa that extends the domestic realm into a more contemplative relationship with the surrounding landscape.

Ultimately, the project situates itself within a regional continuum where architecture becomes an act of mediation, between past and present, permanence and transformation, nature and habitation.

project: Soengas Houses

location: Freguesia de Caniçada e Soengas, Gerês, Portugal 

architecture: José Carvalho Araújo > www.carvalhoaraujo.com

typology: shelter, houses, rehab

status: project, in progress 

images/renders (c) Carvalho Araújo  

But how can we build with what already exists? Architecture as an act of memory and integration, here are a few examples: 

In the landscapes of northern Portugal, and more broadly in territories marked by a strong rural and vernacular identity, contemporary architecture can no longer be conceived as an autonomous or groundless gesture. It now operates within a logic of continuity, where to intervene first means to observe, understand, and preserve.

The rehabilitation of ruins and former dry-stone houses goes far beyond mere technical or aesthetic concerns. It implies a cultural and ethical stance: recognizing the value of what already exists, not as a constraint, but as the very material of the project. These often modest structures, rooted in agricultural and pastoral practices, embody a memory of place, use, and craftsmanship that would be futile to erase.

Within this context, several recent projects in Portugal illustrate the richness and diversity of architectural responses to this condition. The House in Braços, Parada do Monte, Melgaço by Nuno Brandão Costa follows an almost silent continuity, where the new intervention extends the existing constructive logic with profound respect for the site. Similarly, the Agroturismo House in Melgaço by Correia Ragazzi Architects develops an architecture deeply rooted in its context, reinterpreting local codes, materials, and proportions, almost as if it had always been there.

Conversely, some projects adopt a more radical stance while remaining deeply respectful of the existing structure. This is the case with the E/C House by SAMI Arquitectos on Pico Island-Açores, where the ruin becomes a frame, almost an abstract envelope. The contemporary intervention deliberately detaches itself, creating a dialogue through contrast. The ruin is no longer simply restored; it is re-signified, transformed into a spatial element in its own right.

This tension between integration and detachment is also evident in larger-scale projects, such as the Douro Hotel Winery by OODA Architecture Office, still at the proposal stage, where the architecture is delicately embedded within the Douro landscape. Likewise, the Shelter on the Ruins by WORS Architects in Peniche explores the relationship between existing structures and contemporary additions through a carefully controlled layering approach.

In a more introspective register, the Casa em Monsaraz project by Aires Mateus pushes this idea of architectural disappearance even further. The house appears carved into the terrain, almost invisible, like a contemporary cave. Here, the refusal to disrupt the site becomes a founding principle: architecture recedes to allow the landscape to prevail.

Despite their formal diversity, all these approaches converge toward a shared intention: not to deny what exists, but to build with it. Architecture becomes a mediating tool between past and present, between memory and contemporary use.

This line of thinking belongs to a broader architectural lineage, notably embodied by Eduardo Souto de Moura. From his early works, such as the House in Moledo, he demonstrated a remarkable ability to engage with the constructive codes of northern Portugal, dry-stone walls, topographical integration, and a strong relationship to the ground, while introducing a distinctly contemporary language. In his work, modernity never opposes context; it emerges from it.

It is precisely within this continuity that the Soengas Houses project, designed by José Carvalho Araújo and discussed in this article, finds its place.