The Art of Living: Inside Ana D’Castro’s Art-Filled Home
The Dubai home of architect and artist Ana D’Castro is a masterclass in flawlessly fusing contemporary design with the natural world
Gorgeously dominated by towering green trees, landscaped gardens and grape-red flowers, stepping into Ana D’Castro’s home, nestled in Dubai’s Green Community West neighbourhood, evokes a forest-like setting.
The spacious, single-storey villa is a treasure trove of art and design made by her, for her. There are bespoke sculptures, antique marble and bronze statues, unique Balinese wood-slab tables, art books and large, nature-inspired paintings scattered and displayed all over the abode, providing a glimpse into the architect and artist’s colourful world.
The master bedroom’s bed base was crafted using railway sleepers
Hailing from Portugal, Ana has lived and worked in several countries from Brazil and Singapore to France and Switzerland, before finally settling in Dubai. She began her career as a junior architect at the world-renowned firm Herzog & De Meuron in Basel, where she collaborated with various prestigious museums and galleries including The Pérez Art Museum Miami, Tate Modern and São Paulo Cultural Center. In 2014, she founded award-winning architectural practice BIA Design, specialising in large-scale buildings, hospitality, urban-planning schemes and smaller, interior-design retail and residential projects.
“As a young female architect, having the chance to start my architecture and design studio at the age of 30 was a great accomplishment and a dream come true,” says Ana.
The reading corner features a 240x200cm artwork by Ana called Blossom from the Nature series
Her studio, BIA Design is rooted in a fusion of art and architecture, a concept Ana calls Artchitecture.
“I bring together both worlds,” she explains. “Artchitecture defines my whole practice. It represents the symbiosis between architecture and art, merging the two disciplines and blurring the boundaries between each other.” The theory analyses the way architects use art knowledge when designing a building, as well as the psychology of colours; namely how different shades and tones of the same palette interact to create shadow and depth, influencing the viewer’s sensorial experience within a building.
“It’s a technical approach but it’s quite important,” she says, citing Leonardo Da Vinci, Manolo Blahnik and Zaha Hadid as her muses. “Everything is in the details.” The influence of architecture in Ana’s paintings is also evident, with the added texture on the works akin to construction techniques of plaster and cement. “For me, it’s always a duality between both. I believe that’s what distinguishes me from other painters in my professional career.” Unsurprisingly, writing a book on the theory of artchitecture is on her to-do list.
The console table features blue candleholders made by Portuguese ceramist, Bordallo Pinheiro and a metallic round sculpture from an antique shop. Above hangs an artwork called Nyctophobia
“It was difficult in the beginning, because everyone was making statements like, ‘No, you have to define yourself as either an architect or an artist, you cannot be both’,” she recalls. “When you’re young, you’re impressionable and you follow what society tells you, because you want to be meaningful and famous, and carve your path. But I said no, I can’t, this is part of my personality. Why be one when I can be both? I’m very determined like that. I don’t know what the future holds, I just go with the flow and absorb the environment around me and then learn to evolve. You have to be very resilient, and you have to be able to adapt – that’s key in life. No one knows what’s better for you than yourself.”
Ana’s villa has been designed to resemble an art gallery, with the original structure completely knocked down to create a more open and airy space. The concrete flooring extends out to the garden so when the floor-to-ceiling windows slide open, the interior flows, seamlessly merging with the exterior.
An interior view of the kitchen with Volga Blue granite countertop
Everything in the home is bespoke – the hand basin in the bathroom was cast on-site; the kitchen island was designed with Volga Blue granite so when the light shines on it, beautiful hints of blue are slowly revealed. The doors in the social areas are black with a copper trim, while in the bedroom, they are white with a stainless-steel trim. The bed bases have been made from railway sleepers, forming an industrial-yet-luxurious aesthetic. The dining table, a highlight of the home, was crafted using a three metre-long wood piece sourced from Bali en route to the postcard-pretty Amalfi Coast, with the remaining wood used as a coffee table. The feet of the dining table are designed with polished stainless steel, creating a floating illusion. The colourful sculptures in the backyard were handmade by Ana, cast from found concrete and painted a bright yellow and fire red.
The nature-inspired bathroom
The bronze and marble sculptures placed in the living room (a bold move, she admits, considering three very energetic kids and a Belgian Shepherd live there, too), were bought from an antique shop in Italy while others have been sourced from travels around the world such as Buenos Aires, Brazil and MoMA in New York. Down the hall is an entire room dedicated to Ana’s closet, with one cabinet filled with shoes.
“I’ve turned one of the bedrooms in the villa into a walk-in closet,” she smiles. “I love fashion, so it’s every girl’s dream.” Although the home boasts a neutral palette, it is bursting with colour and texture through the largescale abstract impressionist paintings on each wall.
“When you bring the colour of the paintings to a palette that is quite neutral, everything pops out,” says Ana. “There’s no busy carpet, it’s just pure concrete, and the paintings bring the life, basically. It’s kind of a cliché but I do truly believe that nature is the biggest inspiration for everything.”
Ana’s walk-in shoe closet spans Jimmy Choo, Giuseppe Zanotti, Sergio Rossi and Gucci
A testament to Ana’s love for nature comes every morning at sunrise, as she jogs her way around the nearby park brimming with lush green trees and chirping birds. “It’s my meditation process,” she reveals. “It’s really important for me because it grounds me. I put my music on or sometimes I just listen to the birds.”
Consciously absorbing her surroundings, she takes note of anything from a leaf falling to the grass and the fl oating clouds, to the reflections on the lake and the water droplets which rest on flower petals, later drawing on these for inspiration. Her most recent series entitled Accelerated Landscapes depicts these small nuances in everyday life.
The dining table was crafted using a three metre-long wood piece sourced from Bali.
Above it hangs an artwork by Ana called Clip 0.55 from the Accelerated Landscapes series
Looking around, it’s evident Ana embraces two different styles of painting; two different forms of expression. One is free-fl owing, guided by spontaneous brushstrokes and layers made with oil paint and wax, a nod to her carefree personality, while the other is more controlled, with neater lines. “I have this very emotional side but I also have this very rational and precise side.”
While the works in the home utilise contrasting tones, her next series called Paint(e)scapes is centred on variations within the same palette. The collection is set to be unveiled at Jumeirah Al Naseem hotel’s Royal Suite in February. “I’m obsessed with colour, for me it’s everything,” she says. Her artworks have been exhibited in Portugal as well as Dubai in Alserkal Avenue, with most projects consisting of private commissions.
The living room features Ana’s Water Lillies painting from the Nature series and a coffee table made using a tree root from Bali as the base and bespoke glass on top. On the table are golden and silver chrome sculptures from Buenos Aires
We head over to Ana’s artist studio in the garden, where she spends endless hours with a brush to canvas. “This is my happy place,” she shares , revealing that her grandfather owned a paint factory in Lisbon, and being exposed to the art world early on naturally steered the way for her. “I kind of grew up in the middle of brushes and paints,” she reminisces. “Since an early age I learned the art of pigmentation, the difference between acrylic and synthetic paint, the different colour variations and so much more. I believe that’s what makes me what I am today.”
The bronze hand sculpture displayed in the reading corner was made by Ana’s grandfather
A marriage of art and design, this home is an architectural masterpiece, whilst also a personal safety net. Ana looks around, lost in thought, “We all work and we have our struggles that make our minds busy and somehow when you get home, whether it’s in your living room, bedroom, on the sofa, or while cooking in your kitchen, you find you can disconnect and just enjoy life in its purest form,” she expresses. “It’s a pure sense of pleasure, and I think that’s what makes my home a happy place.” If we all had a mirror exposing our thoughts and dreams, this would be hers.
To view Anna’s artworks, click here
Lead Image: Ana D’Castro stands in the garden by her own artwork entitled Dawn from the Nature series, in an outfit she also designed.
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s January 2021 issue.