We tour a new Brazilian home by CR2 Arquitetura

Jacuripanga house cr2 garden — Clean lines and a strip window on the top level highlight the architects' minimalist approach. Photography: Fran Parente

(Image credit: Fran Parente)

When the team at CR2 Arquitetura was called upon to redesign an existing home in the Jardim América neighbourhood of São Paulo, they soon found out they had to work with a cramped existing building, featuring small rooms and narrow windows that resulted in a dark and unpleasant space. This had to change. Their complete redesign of this family home has indeed made it completely unrecognisable, bringing together large openings and clean, modernist lines with a lush garden and lots of outside space that allows the interior to breathe.

The project, named Jacupiranga House, now has a sizeable rear garden, which was previously occupied by extensions and outbuildings, added on over the years. The architects cleared up the space and used it for outdoors planting and a swimming pool; this also provided space for auxiliary rooms for the house, such as a new bathroom by the pool, a cellar and a brand new kitchen facing the dining room.

In order to make the block volume's appearance smoother and cleaner, the architects clad the entire facade on the ground level with slats of Accoya wood. This allowed them to conceal behind it doors to different areas of the house, as well as plenty of storage.

The top floor is occupied solely by the master bedroom with its en suite bathroom. This room leads out to an extensive roof terrace, featuring its own garden and even trees, adding to the overall green feel of this urban residential commission.

An uncluttered design full of clever details, such as invisible window frames and a strip opening on the top volume, underline the architects' minimalist intentions, which bring this 1965 structure firmly into the 21st century.

INFORMATION

cr2arquitetura.com.br

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).