The Labyrinth of Saudade

Permanent Collection, Rotterdam

Developed as part of a research programme on housing models, Labirinto da Saudade is an inquiry into the Portuguese House and its ways of inhabiting. From this investigation emerges an archetype: a single, solid volume containing all the spaces of domestic life, capable of adapting to different sites while preserving its essential dimensions.

A structural grid envelops the building, reproducing the geometry of a traditional Portuguese embroidered tablecloth. Embroidery becomes a marker of social status: Renda de Bilros for the upper class, Ponto-Cruz for the upper-middle class and Crochet for the middle class. The remaining classes are excluded from home ownership.

The house is organised between two opposing conditions: the Spaces of Display, exposed to the exterior, and the Intimate Spaces, concealed behind the embroidered structure. Their configuration reflects the relationships between the inhabitants, transforming domestic space into a representation of social hierarchies, rituals and exclusions.

The project is part of the permanent collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.