Article source: Ramos Castellano arquitectos

The city of Mindelo on the island of Sao Vicente, Capoverde, west Africa, is expanding rapidly, with 50% of the population under the age of 25, and with a constantly growing touristic flow.

The 60 sq m plot is located in the city’s center commercial street. A street that in the last 15 years has transformed its architecture, from residential, with traditional multi-colored one-storey houses, to small 4-storey apartment buildings, with the possibility of one meter overhang on the public road. How could we create an harmonious transition between the old existing, the new and the two existing buildings on the sides of the plot. Above all, as we could have conveyed through a 4-storey vertical facade, the same joy that was in traditional architecture, combining it with a new program.

Image Courtesy © Sergio Pirrone

• Architects: Ramos Castellano arquitectos
• Project: Casa Celestina
• Location: Mindelo, Cabo Verde
• Photography: Sergio Pirrone
• Structural Engineer: Ilidio Alexandre
• Builder: Cipriano Tomas
• Carpentry and furnitures: Sig. Adriano Gomes
• Area: 390 mq
• Year: 2020

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