Casa do Conto (House of Tales) was born three years ago, giving rise to a unique project within the Oporto’s growing hotel industry. Unfortunately a fatal fire in March 2009 interrupted this process but not the collective will to complete the project. And many were those who generously honored and supported it.

The House rises now fully rehabilitated, once again seeking its exclusivity within the usual Oporto’s hotel offer, which is becoming gradually generic and impersonal.

Casa do Conto embodies a unique story of life, which is, after all, the history of the city itself. The House highlights Oporto’s XIX century domestic architecture, solemn and vertical, carved by the scars of a time that mediates its decline and rebirth, the memory of the past and the desire for the future, the granite stone of the old facades and the new concrete of staircases and ceilings. It is, indeed, a kind of “fossil architecture” that comes to life.

Graved by various texts, in low relief, covering six separate rooms, these ceilings narrate the changes undergone by the concept of “house” and of this house in particular. Created by different authors, related to the city and its architecture – Filipa Leal, Alvaro Domingues, Jorge Figueira, André Tavares, Nuno Grande and Pedro Bandeira – the six “tales” were spatially distributed by the architects collective Pedra Líquida (Liquid Stone) – authors of the renewal project -, and graphically imagined by the creative designers of R2 Design. The solution, which marks the difference in personality of each space has already been awarded with the 2011 SEGD Design Awards, and has received the Golden Award of the European Design Awards in the category “Signs & Displays”.

Casa do Conto offers an innovative hotel concept – arts & residence – providing a personalized style of residence for guests who wish to combine resting with the enjoyment of Oporto’s cultural offer, or for those who wish to create, display or even debate art working. For this reason, Casa do Conto offers a regular schedule of cultural events, involving different artists, designers, curators, groups and art institutions.

Casa do Conto诞生于三年之前，是波尔图酒店业界里面的一只独秀。不幸的是在2009年3月发生了火灾，后来在许多人的慷慨相助下才得以重开。

这里体现了独特的生活场景，同时富有历史感，是波尔图的特别之地。这里老的花岗岩门面，新的混凝土带模板印痕的楼梯空间，以及天花板：呈现出衰落与重生，过往与未来的交错。

各种浅浮雕文本出现在6个单独的房间中，分别讲述不同的故事，6位建筑师Filipa Leal, AlvaroDomingues, Jorge Figueira, André Tavares, Nuno Grande 和 Pedro Bandeira分别创建这6个不同的故事。这里因其空间个性差异还获得了2011的SEGD大奖，以及欧洲设计类别的“标志性”金奖。

Architecture: Pedra Líquida Team: Alexandra Grande, Nuno Grande, Daniela Coutinho, Joana Couceiro, João Crisóstomo, Luís Sobral, Gerson Rei, Ivo Lapa, Rui Baltazar Grafic design: R2 Consultants: AB Projectos, Gatengel, GET, ALFA Engenharia Client: Casa do Conto, Arts and Residence Location: Rua da Boavista, 713, Porto Construction Company: Pedras de Ronfos Project year: 1st phase 2008-2009; 2nd phase 2009-2011 Photos: Fernando Guerra FG+SG