fala atelier inverts the sloped roof with slants and curves for this sculptural home in portugal

fala atelier inverts the sloped roof for a playful suburban home

Porto-based fala atelier turns the traditional pitched roof on its head, creating a house defined by a gently curved and sharply slanted silhouette that breaks from the uniformity of its residential surroundings. Titled 125, the home sits in a quiet suburb of Matosinhos, Portugal, perched atop a translucent plinth with an inverted sloped roof giving rise to an expressive, sculptural volume. Its elevations are punctuated by round and square windows, green and blue shutters, and a palette of crisp whites and muted hues that lend it the appearance of a paper collage rendered in three dimensions. Within, the studio carefully composes concrete, glass brick, and marble as layered surfaces that intersect and fold around each other.

image by Lera Samovich

the contrasting geometries perch on a translucent plinth

The house takes a design approach that balances precision with idiosyncrasy in its forms, materiality, and programming. A rhythmic arrangement of round and square openings punctuates the white exterior walls, with colored shutters in blue and green animating the facade. Some elevations resemble abstract faces while others playfully evoke paper collages with scattered color fields.

Throughout, fala atelier’s architecture reads like a child’s drawing rendered in marble, glass, and concrete — simultaneously rigorous and naive. Each surface, whether folded, tilted, or curved, has also been deliberately crafted and composed. Walls in green, blue, and black contrast with the muted palette, while the roof’s unique profile challenges the visual norms of its suburban context.

fala atelier turns the traditional pitched roof on its head | image by Lera Samovich 

mint-green columns are scattered freely across the space

Moving inside, the house continues to experiment with spatial conventions to infuse elements of architectural surprise. Five slender, mint-green concrete columns weave through rooms without following any clear, typical structural logic, with one even standing freely on the terrace, supporting nothing at all.

Spaces shift as you move through them, as the living room opens to the garden and connects to an office above, while the master bedroom tucks itself into a curved corner beneath the roof. Double-height ceilings, angled walls, and additional unexpected moments in the layout give the interior a sense of balance that echoes the precision of the geometries while feeling improvised. As the team at fala atelier describes, ‘the figure of the house is simultaneously complete and broken.’

the house is defined by a gently curved and sharply slanted silhouette | image by Fransisco Ascensao

five mint-green concrete columns weave through | image by Fransisco Ascensao

located in a quiet suburb of Matosinhos, Portugal | image by Fransisco Ascensao

punctuated by round and square windows, and crisp and muted hues | image by Fransisco Ascensao

double-height ceilings, angled walls, and additional unexpected moments in the layout | image by Fransisco Ascensao

each surface, whether folded, tilted, or curved, has been deliberately composed | image by Fransisco Ascensao

the unconventional volumes carry through to the interiors | image by Fransisco Ascensao

some elevations resemble abstract faces, while others playfully evoke paper collages | image by Fransisco Ascensao 

the architecture reads like a child’s drawing rendered in marble, glass, and concrete | image by Fransisco Ascensao

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image courtesy of fala atelier

image courtesy of fala atelier

image courtesy of fala atelier

image courtesy of fala atelier

image courtesy of fala atelier

image courtesy of fala atelier

image courtesy of fala atelier

image courtesy of fala atelier

project info:

name: house with an inverted roof 

architect: fala atelier | @fala.atelier

design team: Filipe Magalhães, Ana Luisa Soares, Ahmed Belkhodja, Lera Samovich, Joana Sendas, João Carlos, mp+pp (engineering), Calipa (contactor)

location: Portugal