House of Stories: A project of Paula Rego and Souto Moura
Project by Souto Moura andPaula Rego
In 2006, Paula Rego chose Cascais for the construction of its Casa das Histórias, aSouto de Moura, which occupies the Parada land, more specifically the area of the old tennis courts of Sporting Clube de Cascais, taking advantage of this clearing as an intervention space. ForSouto de Moura it was important to preserve the pre-existing vegetation as much as possible:“Without a doubt, we chose the best plot of land, located next to the Sea Museum, in the old Parada area. This land with brilliant vegetation, presented a large void, formed by some old tennis courts of Sporting Clube de Cascais.” (Capucho, 2009, p. 11)
Among three possible places for the implantation of this Museum, all of them in Cascais,Souto de Moura chose, as mentioned, the land adjacent to the Museum of the Sea. This terrain and its characteristics determined the first lines of the project, such as the existing trees (eucalyptus, almond trees, and mainly pine trees), since the project had to be closer to the vegetation than initially intended, due to the reduced area of the place. .Eduardo's choice of architect Souto de Moura, it was the responsibility of Paula Rego, who from the beginning wanted this to be the architect for his Casa das Histórias. The town of Cascais has been chosen to host the new Museum, and it is alreadySouto de Moura who chooses the land for the construction of this project.(...) As for the MuseumPaula Rego, I was lucky to have been chosen by Pintora and the city council had provided two interesting places to build it. (...) We undoubtedly chose the best terrain. (Capucho, 2009, p. 11)Souto de Moura chose the former Clube da Parada for the installation of the Museum, specifically in the area that covered the former tennis courts of Sporting Club de Cascais, allowing its integration into the surrounding space while respecting the pre-existence to the maximum, something that constitutes a constant concern throughout Edward's careerSouto de Moura. Indeed, the dimensions of the building – which the architect sought to bring closer to the surrounding buildings –, its integration in the place, resulting in a building surrounded by vegetation, in a housing logic (despite the existence of the pyramids, with which the architect sought to highlight the building), the choice of materials (in which Cascais blue appears) and even the choice of color reflect this concern.
Assuming the land and pre-existing trees as fundamental elements, the different volumes that make up the building make up four wings, subdivided inside into sequential rooms, arranged around a higher central volume, which corresponds to the temporary exhibition room. The interior, in neutral tones, paved in Cascais blue marble, has, in addition to the technical and service areas, 750 m2 of exhibition areas, a shop, a cafeteria with a terrace open to a leafy garden and an auditorium with 195 seats. places.
In the thesis “House of StoriesPaula Rego: a project by Eduardo Souto de Moura”, Mariana Camara Pestana da Silva Parreira says:“Stay true to your convictions,Souto de Moura still recovers, at the Casa das Histórias Museum Paula Rego, the game between opposites to which we have become accustomed throughout our career and which can be seen, for example, in the choice of the red color for the exterior facades of the entire building, in order to contrast with the green present in the pre-existing vegetation. Another example of this is the relationship between the interior and the exterior, through which ESM seeks to make a contrast between the artificial, which is the creation of Man, and the natural, constituted by the surrounding vegetation. On the other hand, the Casa das Histórias Museum represents, in our opinion, a more comfortable approach on the part of the architect to the theme of windows. What once constituted a remarkable difficulty for Eduardo Souto de Moura, appears in this Museum as something natural, marking points of relationship between the interior of the building and the exterior landscape, intuitively meaning moments of pause and contemplation of these “landscape pictures” suggested by the architect.”It is also mentioned that in this museumSouto de Moura it associates certain formal devices with a legacy of architectural composition, adopting specific formulas for the insertion of the building in the surrounding area, as well as a use of scale that can be easily contextualized in a very specific type of geography. Its proximity to the work of Raul Lino is therefore set in a “Southern” landscape, without resorting to any unnecessary decorative or picturesque frills”.“With this museum,Souto de Moura develops a form of “modern architecture” without, in fact, repeating any of the “old models” – according to the ideas defended by Aldo Rossi in his scientific autobiography – evoking timeless archetypes of urban Iconography: towers, lighthouses, silos and chimneys , such as those that define the profile of the Palace of Sintra. It is not surprising, therefore, if the “analogy” is continued, that when describing this museum Souto de Moura he also mentioned the pronounced roofs of Raul Lino's palaces, or the idea of an “inhabited chimney”, evoking that of the kitchen in the monastery of Alcobaça. In fact, in its best interpretation, Casa das Historias can be seen as a “historicist” project, a condition that will certainly surprise the most faithful followers ofSouto de Moura and will confound your toughest critics.”
The works of the Casa das Histórias Collection Paula Rego (CHPR)
The House of Stories CollectionPaula Rego (CHPR) appears in the Portuguese museological panorama in September 2009 and since then it has been assumed, in the national and international context, as one of the most significant for the knowledge of the artist's work.Consisting of the artist's donation of all of her engraved work and more than two hundred drawings, this Collection reflects a large part of her creative path. The various donations to the museum were made in four different periods: the first in 2009, which originated an essential part of the Collection; in 2016, 2019 and 2020 with the attribution to the museum of the remaining recorded works produced between 2009 and 2020.
The Collection also houses thirteen works by private and public collectors for deposit at the monographic museum dedicated to the world-renowned contemporary Portuguese artist: a set of works that came to fill some of the gaps in the Collection and allow an overview of the pictorial production of the artist from the 1960s to the 2000s.
