We'd like a fun house, so that we can have friends over and do everything we can't in our downtown apartment!" - this is what our clients said at one of the first meetings we had before the project.
With that in mind we set a few additional points that we saw fit to be incorporated to the spatial program of the project, such as a swimming pool - which later became a whirlpool for budget's sake -, a fireplace and plenty of space for people to get together.
The house is situated on a privileged site in a landscape characterized by hills, valleys, a great view to the south and a lean savannah-like vegetation called Cerrado. This particular topography allows for a view of the top of the house from several of the points around it.
Within this context, the roof was designed so as to act like a fifth façade, creating a strong contrast with the spiked landscape around it, not only because of its colours, but also because of the shape and geometry of the ground plan, which faces south.
The central space was designed to be a place for communication and interaction. It integrates kitchen, dining area, fireplace, living room and a wide veranda, with a beautiful view to the south and the whirlpool, by its side. All of these areas, except for the whirlpool, are covered by a flat roof, which not only brings them together, but also gathers four prismatic volumes. Those volumes contain a lavatory, two rooms with a bathroom, a master bedroom on two different levels and a kind of alcove-space on a higher ground, with the laundry room underneath it.
The master bedroom allows, from its upper level, for a view of the wide horizon and the rising of the moon at night. From the bathroom on the lower level, one can appreciate the sunset and the great landscape to the west.
On the outside, to the south, a small area of Cerrado has been domesticated and paved with grass. It is limited by a bench and a shower place made out of a meandering low wall on one side and a buried retaining wall on the other. Both of these borders follow the greater geometry of the ground level.
