Mythos Building / ARX Portugal

Mythos Building / ARX Portugal - Windows, FacadeMythos Building / ARX Portugal - Image 3 of 44Mythos Building / ARX Portugal - FacadeMythos Building / ARX Portugal - FacadeMythos Building / ARX Portugal - More Images+ 39

Lisbon, Portugal
  • Architect In Charge: Nuno Mateus, José Mateus
  • Design Team: Paulo Rocha, Sónia Luz, Bruno Gonçalves, Gonçalo Azevedo, Nuno PInto, Ruden Arend, Sofia Raposo.
  • Electrical And Telecominications Planning, Gas And Security: AT Serviços de Engenharia Lda.
  • Thermal, Energy And Acoustic Planning: Natural Works, Engineering Consultants
  • Owner: IMOCOM
  • City: Lisbon
  • Country: Portugal
More SpecsLess Specs
Mythos Building / ARX Portugal - Windows, Facade
© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

Text description provided by the architects. This project was selected and invited, with 16 other project teams, for an international contest promoted by IMOCOM in July 2006.

Mythos Building / ARX Portugal - Facade, Windows
© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

The promoter had a well defined set of intentions: identity and contemporary singularity, good relationships with the views (river and city), bio-climatic design and exhibition of multimedia content to the outside. We assumed that its contemporaneous character would be the outcome of a natural integration and synthesis of the several wills, with the specialities having an active role in the characterization of architecture.

Mythos Building / ARX Portugal - Image 26 of 44
Second Floor Plan

The building was designed as an opaque orthogonal shell, black and protective, which creates a strong interiority/privacy. The necessary transparencies were ripped at the corners, in one stroke aiming at getting the best views and protecting adequately the inside of the building from the sun rays.

Mythos Building / ARX Portugal - Image 31 of 44
North Elevation

As so to respond to the necessity to broadcast multimedia contents avoiding the plain installation of a multimedia panel on the façade, we studied a façade that would have lamellas of inlaid LEDs in the joints of the outside shell. The building's body holds a mutant and ambiguous character: it changes and transforms according to the broadcasted contents.

Mythos Building / ARX Portugal - Windows, Facade
© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

There is still a concept for the "restitution of nature". The sum of the green areas inserted inside the building equals the totality of the lot's area. The excavations at the corners of the black shell are designed as fictions of landscapes. Fictions of "lakes with rushes" at the river side, and of "gardens" at the opposite side, filter the relationships indoors/outdoors and create a strong depth of the visual fields.

Mythos Building / ARX Portugal - Glass, Windows
© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

At nightfall, these fictions get an unexpected presence; in an evermore artificial urban context, they sparkle on the black background as natural "floating" drops.

Mythos Building / ARX Portugal - Beam, Column
© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

Project gallery

See allShow less

Project location

Address:Parque das Nações, Lisbon, Portugal

Click to open map
Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Mythos Building / ARX Portugal" 24 Dec 2013. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/459719/mythos-building-arx> ISSN 0719-8884

You've started following your first account!

Did you know?

You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.