This residential block goes up where two of Lisbon’s main avenues converge, and turns its prominent position within the urban fabric into the essential element of its design. The main idea of the project is based on the creation of a ‘mutant facade’: a skin of mobile panels made of Carrara marble that is able to completely transform the appearance of the block. This ability to change transforms the residential complex into a sort of urban sculpture the appearance of which varies depending on the time of the day; in this way, at night, light irradiates from the interior of the dwellings, while during the day the facade appears pierced by numerous small vertical openings. The pivoting panels covering these openings permit an effective control of sunlight.

The building’s interior has apartments of different dimensions and numbers of bedrooms, making it possible to create different spaces in each housing unit. In all the apartments, however, the living room plays a prominent role, and is located at the center of the floor plan. In the larger apartments, delicate screens of horizontal wood slats separate these spaces from the rest of the rooms.