The commision to design a house in a typical São Paulo neighbourhood context, out of gated communities, demanded that we test the limits of our design philosophy – permeability, openness to surrounding urban space. The result of the reading of these conditions a wide and light space that also shelters the need of enclosure that daily life demands.
Built for a young couple, the house is placed above street level, organized under a single roof that defines the wide space where the collective activities take place, crossed by the private use masonry block – on top of which is the mezanin, connected by a concrete staircase. The construction is gently closed by a large metal and glass wall, that allows space to be extended to the limits of the plot and bring natural light, air and the surrounding urbanscape to the inside.
The mezanin is explicits the “open-to-close” operation that guided the design process: it is simultaneously integrated and detached, creating a spatial modulation that allows socialization or privacy without walls or partitions.
Regarding materials, the Butantã House results from an intervention in an existing construction, whose fragile structure had to be demolished, leaving only the concrete slab that covers the garage. The new construction is built with masonry, concrete, steel and glass.
