Sand castle: a raised Brazilian beach house by Studio Arthur Casas
Overlooking the sandy expanses of Baleia Beach in Brazil, Casa EK is a modern, open-plan retreat, designed by São Paulo-based architect Arthur Casas. Structured as a series of stacked volumes, the house takes advantage of the view, but its strong geometric forms are softened through luxury elements, such as vertical gardens and a rooftop jacuzzi, woven into the fabric of the fort to create a smooth and sensual beach home.
Take an interactive tour of Casa EK
On its way to monopolising the coastal architecture of the area, Studio Arthur Casas built Casa EK on a plot next door to Casa MD, a previous project that the firm completed in 2014. The clients are close friends with their neighbours and liked the style of their home, yet wanted a unique identity for their own.
The long, oblong site of Casa EK has its sole access at the front of the site, which also overlooks the coastal landscape. Looking to combine a major asset of the site (the view) with a practical purpose (access to the home for vehicles and people) the architect built a subterranean carport sloping beneath the property, while raising the home up and neatly stacking its top levels to make the most of the views.
A warm wooden deck with a pool opens up the property towards the sea, leading seamlessly through sliding glass doors into the open-plan living space and then out again to a small garden at the back of the site. On the first floor, five suites complete with double bedrooms, storage and bathrooms are arranged around a central living space. For visual continuity and privacy, metal panels can be folded across the glass windows and doors around the property.
Vertical gardens of patterned plants cover the external walls on the ground floor, while the interior walls are painted a warm light beige, referencing the sandy beach and bringing the wholesome sensation of being outdoors in. While the site is narrow, the access to green space feels plentiful. Upstairs on the roof, another garden with a jacuzzi and hearth sits enclosed in clear glass panels, leaving the 360-degree view unobstructed.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Studio Arthur Casas website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.
-
JW Anderson and Pleasing design a balloon-inspired collection of nail polishes and more
JW Anderson and Pleasing launch an uplifting new capsule collection featuring balloon-inspired metallic nail polishes and a take on the viral rainbow cardigan
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
Bottega Veneta drafts Venetian artisans for its unique ‘Bottega for Bottegas’ project, a gift list of local craft
Italian fashion house Bottega Veneta has sought out six craftspeople from in and around Venice to create precious objects – from playing cards to jigsaw puzzles – which arrive just in time for festive gift-giving
By Jack Moss Published
-
Agnès Varda, Luca Guadagnino and Wim Wenders: why Aesop’s love affair with cinema is more than skin-deep
Aesop’s new 2024 Christmas campaign celebrates its long love affair with cinema. Laura Havlin speaks with the brand’s head of global store design Marianne Lardilleux to discover why film is inherent to its DNA
By Laura Havlin 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