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Simplicity, when it comes to good design, is a misnomer.
The word is often associated with a feeling of clarity and
connection that, in fact, can only be achieved through
intense care and attention toward a broad range of
practicalities: financial, logistical, elemental, historical
and personal. Done well, everything merges seamlessly
to create something so natural to our humanity as to
feel ‘simple.’ It is a concept Lisbon-based Aboim Inglez
Arquitectos understands well.
The work of Ricardo and Maria Ana Aboim Inglez, co-
founders of Aboim Inglez Arquitectos, is characterised by a
feeling of continuity, timelessness, and freedom. In other
words, simplicity. Their design process involves carefully
analysing the property “the landscape, the place, the
environment” and working to reinforce it. For renovation
projects, this includes honouring the original architect’s
intentions, and asking “how can you complete it — how can
you add something — without it losing its character.”
“Simple ideas can have the ability to become powerful
ideas. And that’s what we like to work with,” says Ricardo.
“And then things get very complicated, and there is a huge
effort from our part and it takes time to reach a level
of simplicity. For a while we are taking things away; we
realise what is important and not important. We are taking
and taking and taking but in the end it is all there.”
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A CONVERSATION WITH
ABOIM INGLEZ ARQUITECTOS
“Simple ideas can have the ability
to become powerful ideas.”
