The single block and the creation of a large garden allowed for the enhancement of the quality of all the apartments. They will all have sunlight! Half of the units will have a view of the MON and the forest, while the other half will have a view of the newly created garden. In architecture, open space is just as important as the built structure. In this project, the achievement of this space was so significant that it even gave the development its name — we started calling it “Jardim” (Garden).
With this layout, the triangular plot, which was once a problem, now functions perfectly, as it frees up 30 meters of open space on the facade, creating a significant distance from the neighboring buildings. This solution also allows the apartments facing the garden to have a view of the street, which is excellent both for the residents and for the city.
The layout solution also guided the other decisions of the project. On the facade, we created a large open garden in the setback, offering this space to the city. The boundary between public and private space is a stone wall, which serves as a pedestal for the tower that rises above it. The slabs extend outward, marking the floors and forming continuous lines that wrap around the building, unifying its volumetry.
The large garden is to the right of those looking from the street, and within it, we designed the entrance to the building and a small commercial space, important for giving life to the 60 meters of the building's facade. The entrance is, as Le Corbusier would say, an architectural promenade — a journey through the architecture and landscaping designed by Rodrigo.
After passing through the access control, one can observe the tower from a distance, which helps quickly understand the project’s layout. The visitor is guided to an open gallery with a view of the garden. The gallery is marked on one side by the rhythm of the building’s columns, and on the other side by the common areas of the condominium, all glazed and also facing the garden. Between these glass volumes are the access points to the elevators.
Therefore, this gallery plays a very important role in the project. It serves as a major connector between internal and external spaces, between the natural and the built, between common areas and private areas, between light and shadow. It is a reference to the veranda of the traditional Brazilian house.
The beautiful part of this story is saying that architecture is a process — it’s practice, it’s persistence, it’s the work of a team in search of problems and solutions. But in the Jardim project, in particular, we were perhaps a bit more determined than usual. It must have been that big Eye, right there at the corner. It was as if Oscar was watching us: don’t mess this up!
