Casa do Conto (House of Tales) was born four years ago, giving rise to a unique project within the Oporto’s growing hotel industry. The Hotel Casa do Conto has a turbulent past: the house from the 19th Century was destroyed by a fire in 2009 after its restoration had just been completed and just days before its grand opening. House rises now fully rehabilitated, once again seeking its exclusivity within the usual Oporto’s hotel offer, which is becoming gradually generic and impersonal.
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”. Antique furniture combined with modern pieces provide a warm, elegant atmosphere. And the old iron doorknocker at the entrance is a reminder of the past.
