Casa da Calçada I

The ‘cardanhos’ [farm barracks] were modest structures where harvest workers would stay temporarily, in berths. This photograph shows a number of buildings which constituted a production unit, structured according to a rigidly hierarchical social organisation. On the right-hand side, the linear set of ‘cardanhos’, intended for a lower social class, is facing the proprietor’s residence. Transforming these houses into tourist lodgings improved their level of comfort, doing away with differences and erased memories of a harsh life. That which only a few years ago we were still able to identify as humble constructions are today aesthetically appreciated for their masonry in granite and schist, materials found easily, given the complex and hybrid local geology. Rehabilitation, almost “invisible” due to respect for and maintenance of pre-existing features, confirms this desire to neutralise the past through disciplinary gestures that unify architectural details, materials and shades of colour.