A house made of memories and an homage to an iconic building that made a mark in both the architect and the client’s lives.

The Instituto Central de Ciências, ICC, or “Minhocão” is a key building of the University of Brasilia designed by Oscar Niemeyer and João Filgueiras Lima. It's also an icon of experimentation with precast concrete in Brazil in the 1960s. From the outset, this project was brought to us by the clients, who were passionate about the architecture of Brasilia, as inspiration for their new home. The use of apparent concrete, large openings, fluidity of space and the rhythmic structure that guides its plastic composition are highlights of Lelé and Niemeyer's project, used as a reference in the design of the house.

The residents' main request was a compact house that integrated the entire social space: kitchen, living room and barbecue area. The project's programme also included bedrooms for their daughters, a gues troom, an office and a studio for ceramics and craftwork.

The living room and kitchen are integrated and serve as a gathering point for the house, blending in with the patio and barbecue area through the large window frames. This large social area, as well as the bedrooms, faces the patio - a central point where all the rooms converge, with a swimming pool at its center.

A highlight in the project is its color palette, which dialogues both with the building that inspired the project and also with the terrain, an arid space located in the Cerrado biome. Thus, the terracotta color, which blends with the characteristic local red earth, as well as harmonizes with the wood and exposed concrete of the structure.