São Paulo villa by Arthur Casas is the perfect urban retreat
A contemporary house in São Paulo is a modernist retreat set in the leafy suburbs, courtesy of architect Arthur Casas
This São Paulo villa was designed as the perfect urban retreat. BD House, created by Brazilian architect Arthur Casas and his team, was conceived as a haven of modernist calm among the rich suburban foliage of the Brazilian metropolis for the clients, a young couple with two small children – although the residence sits a mere stone's throw away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre.
The design's starting point, Casas explains, was the structure’s cobogó – the external screen that wraps the upper levels and derives from the traditional lace-like perforated panels of the country's vernacular dwellings. The pattern here, made out of wood, was created by the studio and helps define the project's look and identity, balancing privacy and long vistas, natural ventilation and protection from the elements. At the same time, the garden's verdant planting and a green wall converse with the geometric timber structure – which was also designed to support the growth of the outdoor climbing plants on site.
The home's main volumes are made in cast-in-situ concrete, their robust, confident, boxy forms clearly delineating where the outdoors ends and the indoors begins. Expansive glazing, however, on the ground floor allows the interior to open up to nature and connect visually and physically to the garden when the windows are drawn back. Meanwhile, timber surfaces soften the overall effect.
Within its some 650 sq m, the house hosts a flowing, open-plan living room and kitchen, toilet, barbecue area, and garden on the ground floor. The children's bedrooms, the master suite, and the guest room are right upstairs. A penthouse-style structure at the top houses leisure areas, such as a pool and deck, while a basement was dug to accommodate the garage, a wine cellar, an office, service areas and storage.
The interiors, bathed in natural light and wrapped in views of greenery, are styled with furniture pieces by Brazilian and international creatives, such as Sergio Rodrigues, Charles Eames, Lina Bo Bardi, Jean Gillon, and Ricardo Fasanello. Items by Casas, too, populate the space, including the ‘Apache’ dining table, the ‘Antigua’ coffee table and a selection of lighting – making this São Paulo villa a holistically thought-out, finely tuned urban retreat.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Los Angeles’ best fine-dining restaurants
LA boasts a creative food scene driven by some of the world’s most innovative chefs. Browse the Wallpaper* guide to the city’s best fine-dining restaurants
By Kevin EG Perry Published
-
First look at Maison 3, an eclectic new Parisian bar for sleepless nights
Maison 3 is an enigmatic space with a sensual atmosphere brought to life by the French studio Les Beaux Jours Architectures
By Fabienne Dupuis Published
-
Chanel heads to Hangzhou, China for a poetic Métiers d’Art 2025 show
This evening in China (3 December 2024), Chanel travelled to Hangzhou’s much-mythologised West Lake, a Unesco World Heritage site, for a show that highlighted the extraordinary craft of the house’s artisans
By Jack Moss Published
-
Restoring São Paulo: Planta’s mesmerising Brazilian brand of midcentury ‘urban recycling’
Brazilian developer Planta Inc set out to restore São Paulo’s historic centre and return it to the heyday of tropical modernism
By Rainbow Nelson Published
-
All aboard Casa Quinta, floating in Brazil’s tropical rainforest
Casa Quinta by Brazilian studio Arquipélago appears to float at canopy level in the heart of the rainforest that flanks the picturesque town of Paraty on the coast between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
By Rainbow Nelson Published
-
Feel like a movie? The top 50 films of all time according to Marcio Kogan
Marcio Kogan's top 50 films of all time; the architect taps into his passion for the moving image and shares with us his recommendations
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Studio mk27 and Marcio Kogan’s greatest hits: from voluptuous villas to relaxing retreats
Studio mk27, led by Wallpaper* guest editor Marcio Kogan, is behind buildings that make us swoon; here are the best of the best
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: meet the practices
In the Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2024, our latest guide to exciting, emerging practices from around the world, 20 young studios show off their projects and passion
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
How guest editor Marcio Kogan, during a visit to the movies, ‘discovered that something else exists in the world, real poetry’
Marcio Kogan is a guest editor of Wallpaper* October 2024. In his dedicated section, we discover how the world of cinema’s loss was architecture’s gain when a feature film failed but a dream space creator rose from the ashes
By Rainbow Nelson Published
-
Brazilian modernism finds its latest expression in Studio Porto’s AG House
Studio Porto, an emerging Brazilian practice, joins the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A modernist São Paulo apartment finds a new lease of life
A spacious modernist São Paulo apartment in the neighbourhood of Higienópolis gets a thorough renovation by Brazilian architects Bloco Arquitetos
By Léa Teuscher Published