Ferme Viticole

Cacela Velha - Portugal
1983-1987

Pierre-Louis Faloci's architectural journey began with the Cacela Velha wine farm, an ambitious project set on the Algarve’s thirteen-hectare canvas. Inspired by the filmic beauty of the landscape, Faloci embarked on his first major architectural narrative, emphasising a design that resonates with both theory and terrain.

At Cacela Velha, Faloci's vision took form through innovative optical experiments. Drawing from Le Nôtre and infusing elements from Terragni and Barragán, he crafted a spatial experience that manipulates perception, connecting the observer to the landscape in a dynamic visual dialogue.

“The architecture extends its hegemony on a geographical scale, it frames the landscape, playing with the line of the horizon, arranging near and distant views through porticoes, screen walls, openings... The whiteness unifies the built elements, but it is the emergence of the land as an active visual surface that gives the whole its optical unity in a contemporary celebration of perspective.”

Pierre-Louis Faloci, Une Écologie du regard: Exposition

Faloci's strategic design stages the architecture within the landscape, framed by white structures that accentuate the ground's visual narrative, culminating in a contemporary celebration of perspective.

*All original drawings by the architect; Pierre-Louis Faloci