In the city of Curitiba in Brazil, Estúdio Elmor has reimagined a home designed by Oscar Müller. Together with the owner, the architects worked to preserve the spirit of the modernist building while updating it to suit the contemporary needs of a family. The inspiration for the design came from the house and its relationship to the landscape; it is, as Estúdio Elmor explains, “architecture that listens to nature and time.” The hope was to reveal this nuance thoughtfully while promoting sustainability through the retention of existing structures and materials, reducing demolition waste and overall resource consumption.
Limited intervention renders a soulful interior update
“The home’s structure is its ‘soul’,” says Estúdio Elmor. Guided by this philosophy, the architects preserved key original features—such as the woodwork that links window and door frames—while focusing their updates on the flow of interior spaces. The retained carpentry, characteristic of Brazilian Modernism, celebrates the warmth of native hardwoods and the dialogue between architecture and furniture—a legacy echoed in the inclusion of numerous mid-century Brazilian pieces. This sensitive approach maintains the home’s historic character while reducing the embodied carbon that new construction materials would have introduced.
“The greatest challenge was improving the home’s functionality without compromising the architectural essence of the original design,” the architects explain. Their solution was a strategy of minimal intervention: reorganising the layout to connect previously separate spaces and choosing materials that respected the existing palette and forms.
A revised floorplan creates renewed flow
Through a heavy dark wood front door, the home opens to a hall where art and original woodwork immediately establish the material warmth and artful character that continue throughout the house. Expansive windows in the living areas maximise natural light and provide cross-ventilation and offer verdant views to the garden and pool beyond. The former service area has been transformed into a central patio with a retractable roof that now acts as the axis between the kitchen and living areas. This gesture, the architects say, “brought new life into the house,” while enhancing passive cooling and daylighting.
Continuing the dialogue between art and architecture
The owner describes the home as a “living gallery,” its walls are hung heavy with artworks and its rooms are filled with design classics. Works by Brazilian abstract modernist Tomie Ohtake and Peruvian photographer Martín Chambi find themselves alongside classic pieces by Sérgio Rodrigues, Marcel Breuer and the Eames. Eclectic but not cacophonic, this melange looks perfectly at home in a building that manages to honour its modernist roots while embracing thoughtful design, sustainability and the ongoing dialogue between art and architecture.
