A figure at the entrance, copper light

Fogo Island

Self-initiated project
The low volume among black rocks and mist
Island made out of fire. Black rock, a volcano, an ocean around the edge. Nothing soft. Nothing given. This one is ours. No client, no brief. A place to test what we believe, against the hardest ground we could find.
The crater rim and the sea
The entrance corridor, a figure in copper light
A spa inside the volcano. Fire below, water above. Baths carved into the basalt, lit from a single hole in the ceiling.
The blue-lit pool chamber
The baths under the oculus, figures in the water
Opening in the rock, view of the sea
We worked the forms against the limits of the place. Rock, weight, and light decided what could stand.
The baths seen from the rocks, sea beyond
The cantilevered roof and the cloudy mountains
The dining hall under the oculus
The light was the work. We used almost none of it. One circle from above, the glow of the water, the last of the day down a long corridor. The circle is the volcano's own shape. The island opened once to let fire out. We opened it again, to let the light fall in.
A figure at the cave mouth, sea light
A figure in the slit of light, the corridor
Figures around the fire in the blue chamber
Dining tables with a lamp, warm timber
The volume above the river gorge, snow peaks
Fire shaped the island. The island shaped the project. We shaped its story.
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