WAS THE NEWSLETTER #118

I’m Paige Wassel. WAS the Newsletter is your weekly dose of design inspiration, where we have a big decision to make.

Mediterranean Modern, Pt. 4

If You Were Going to Live in Portugal…

Over the last few weeks, we’ve compared two prime examples of Mediterranean Modern. We’ve been to Springs in Vilamoura, which is all about community, big marina energy, and integrated resort living. We’ve also been to Signature Apartments & Residences in Palmares, which is all about the cliffside, with its restrained, private minimalism. Ultimately, it’s a Choose Your Own Adventure.

Now let’s ponder the bigger question: if you were going to build (or buy) in Portugal… what kind of lifestyle do you design around?

Climate Changes Everything

Portugal gets around 300 days of sunshine a year. That’s so much glorious weather, OMG. It’s even sunnier than sunny Los Angeles. When you’re in that kind of climate, design should:

• Prioritize terraces

• Blur indoor and outdoor boundaries

• Use materials that cool naturally

• Orient rooms toward sunrise and sunset

Design should be all about architecture responding to environment. We’ve seen this when we’ve talked about Frank Lloyd Wright and Richard Neutra. Neutra is particularly well-known for site respect and indoor/outdoor flow. That’s why Mediterranean Modern feels so right. It’s aesthetic and practical.

Safety Matters, Too

Portugal’s ranked the 7th safest country in the world. What happens when you live somewhere safe? Design shifts. When you feel safe, you open doors and you add larger windows. You embrace the use of glass. You lean into outdoor living. So safety is more than just emotional. It’s architectural.

Lock-and-Leave Living

Both Springs and Palmares’ Signature Apartments & Residences are designed with lock-and-leave living in mind. When you’re here, you don’t have to worry about anything, thanks to the concierge, the maintenance staff, and housekeeping. Plus, there’s an infrastructure that supports seasonal living.

For all these reasons, you don’t have to worry about anything when you’re not there, either. Springs even offers a rental program option, which makes it easier to treat a property as a long-term investment or second home without constant oversight.

When you’ve got these parameters, you come at design with a different mentality than a forever suburban house. You design for flexibility.

Buy or Build? Your Call

At Springs, you can choose from two to four bedroom homes designed around community living and shared amenities. At Palmares, you can purchase signature apartments or select plots to build your own home. Those are two very different creative experiences.

When you buy, you work within existing architecture and personalize interiors. Angle the couch, add a rug, stack a few bowls, and boom. You’re good to go. When you build, you shape the architecture itself. You get to decide it all, from materials to orientation to flow. Both are considered Med Modern. They just have different entry points.

The Bigger Design Takeaway

What I’ve loved about exploring these properties with ArrowGlobal isn’t just the location, although that’s one hell of a selling point. I also love the reminder that good design is contextual. It should take on the properties of the climate, the landscape, the safety, and the culture. It’s all about how people actually live. Med Modern works in Portugal because it belongs there.

Whether you’re redesigning your LA living room or dreaming about a terrace in the Algarve, that’s the lesson I want you to take away from all of this.

Design for where you are.
Design for how you live.
Design with restraint.

Now, if you’re curious about either Springs in Vilamoura or Signature Apartments & Residences in Palmares on the western Algarve coast, I’ve linked more info below so you can keep exploring.

As for me? I’m still team lazy river… but I’ve gotta say, cliffside minimalism is a close second.

Have you been to Portugal?

Would you buy or build?

Tell me everything.

xx,
P