Porta Seguro — Anna Mańka

Anna Mańka
she/her
nl-pl

visiting address:
Hoofdweg 403, 1056 CS Amsterdam

Originally from Poland and currently based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, she is an independent spatial practitioner and researcher examining politics, labour, and production across different scales of the built environment. She holds a dual master’s degree in Architecture and Urbanism from Eindhoven University of Technology.

In her practice, she questions the contemporary labour dynamics and the pursuit of limitless growth within the built environment. Her work explores the intersections of migration, labour, and architecture, with a particular focus on the experiences of Eastern European workers in Western Europe.

Currently, she also works within the field of IT in the built environment, engaging with digital tools such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and data environments that mediate design and construction processes. She is actively involved in advocating for labour rights within the architectural profession, both in the Netherlands and internationally.

Research

The Sanatorium >
Architectural Labour >
Migrant Production of Spaces >
Bloeiende Broedplaatsen 2/2 >
Bloeiende Broedplaatsen 1/2 >
Catania: La Città Nera >

Projects
House of All >
Porta Seguro - Sleeping pods >
Over:flow >

CV >

Other things >

Email >>
Instagram >>

PORTA SEGURO - SLEEPING PODS
Competition Entry
@ De Bever Architecten with: Ioana Birgaoanu, Stefania Pojar, Stefan de Bever
Shortlisted
2021

The Porto Seguro sleeping pods in Vale de Moses embody the safe retreat between the lush slopes of the valley, the place of relief from the quotidian. They provide physical and mental comfort to the visitors, by immersing them into the landscape and by nurturing them only through what nature provides. This is achieved by the use and reuse of local materials, sun, wind and rainwater.

There are four main elements that compose each pod, based on the primary components of a primordial hut defined by Gottfried Semper: ‘the hearth, the enclosure, the mound and the roof’. The hearth is reinterpreted as a multi-functional wall which is the engine and the core of the house. Thus, the hearth defines the surrounding inner space, but allows it to remain clear of any clutter. A modular timber frame envelope intimately encloses the space and its panels can be replaced depending on site positioning. A lightweight timber structure surrounds once more the enveloped space, it lifts it from the ground and it rises an overhanging sloped roof above.