The project of the house “Pequi” derives from the desire to occupy a vast 50x50m flat plot of land in a cerrado region. The main challenge was to create permeability between the built space and the landscape in a harmonious relationship. The initial design was based on the interaction between the shape of the land and the built volume in contrast to the elements originating in the local nature, marked by the presence of pequizeiros, a native species of the cerrado characterized by its spreading crown, trunk and crooked branches with fissures and discontinuous ridges.

The design operations consist of the interaction of pure volumes: two blocks offset in opposite directions are interconnected by a flat slab of chamfered exposed concrete, which creates a potential meeting space and defines by itself its function of sheltering moments of family conviviality. On the one hand, one of the blocks concentrates the program related to services and the other houses the intimate part, which results in well-defined flows and sectorization. In the intimate sector of the house, permeability with the landscape was maintained, resulting in all the suites having large windows that start 40cm from the floor, creating a parapet that can be used as a bench while allowing direct access to the garden. 

The rationality of the project itself is also the result of the participation of the clients who - being engineers - were aware of each construction process and clear about the burden of each decision. Finally, the house was raised above ground level in order to prevent insects and wild animals from entering directly, and in effect to give it a lightness that matches the organic nature of the land. 

The materiality expressed through the neutral tones of the exposed concrete, the natural stones lining the gables that cross the interior of the house, and the natural wood finishes make up the planes that frame the landscape and, at the same time, blur the boundaries of internal and external space, making architecture and landscape one.