You will never believe this lush garden house is in the middle of Sao Paulo
This garden house by Brazilian architecture studio Kika Camasmie is engulfed in greenery, bringing nature right in the heart of the metropolis of São Paulo

A glimpse of this Brazilian garden house will have you thinking of the country's lush, biodiverse jungles and wild nature. Yet the home, designed by emerging architecture studio Kika Camasmie Arq, sits in the middle of the bustling metropolis of São Paulo, nestled within a discreet, leafy site.
Get lost inside this green garden house
The project is the refresh of an existing property, which was spruced up and transformed into a green urban oasis by the practice. Blending indoors and outdoors living, as well as nature and architecture, the home feels like it lives in a world of liminal spaces.
Hidden behind a plain, nondescript door on the street side, the design focused on the outdoors, crafting open-air living spaces for its residents. It is 'perfect for relaxing on sunny afternoons, hosting friends or simply slowing down during long summer days,' the architects write.
A wooden pergola structure helps define the transition between inside and outside in the project - which is titled Residência GGL. The timber structure frames views and also areas for relaxation and entertaining, wrapping terraces and routes that connect the newly planted garden with the home's indoors.
At the same time, this clever intervention encourages cross ventilation through open, flowing spaces; brings in plenty of natural light, deep inside the house; and creates an inviting atmosphere, perfect for contemporary living.
In a country that has perfected architecture for indoor/outdoor lifestyles, this garden house offers a new iteration to the genre, which has been crafted generously by studio founder, architect Kika Camasmie and his Sao Paulo-based team.
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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).
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