Brazilian architecture
Combining traditional techniques and modernist tendencies, Brazilian architecture is in a league of its own. Projects from contemporary Brazilian architects such as Marcio Kogan, Isay Weinfeld, Fernanda Marques, Arthur Casas and Flavio Castro reveal a distinct national style, informed by modernism, climate and an abstract approach to shape and form set by the master Oscar Niemeyer, always infused by a simple and intelligent use of contemporary materials and engineering.
Architect Eduardo Brito, who cut his teeth on Niemeyer’s PGR government building, designed this first-floor apartment in Brasilia with a mix of Brazilian classics old and new. In the living room, one wall is lined with wood from 200-year-old houses in Minas Gerais. Furniture includes Sergio Rodrigues armchairs, a Zalszupin drinks cabinet, a Campana Brothers armchair and side tables by Jader Almeida. The dining table is by São Paulo architect Arthur Casas and the leather living-room divans by Marcus Ferreira. Photography: Nelson Kon
Brazilian architect Fernanda Marques installed a swimming pool in the courtyard of a duplex apartment in São Paulo’s upscale residential neighbourhood of Villa Nova Conceição. The 10m-long pool takes up 25 sq m of the outside area and is accessed via the stairway in the exterior garden or from the gym on the upper floor. All that water is kept at bay by an 8cm-thick sandwich of glass panels bonded by a high technology structural membrane.
In São Paulo’s leafy Jardins suburb architect Marcio Kogan designed a box named Volume C for Micasa furniture and design store. It is the second space the Brazilian architect has created for furniture and design store Micasa, founded over 20 years ago by Houssein Jarouche and dealing in Brazilian design from the emerging and the established. Photography: Fernando Guerra
São Paulo natives Fernando and Humberto Campana created a store that perfectly blends the Aesop philosophy with traditional Paulista architecture. Located on the bustling Rua Harmonia in the city’s bohemian Vila Madalena neighbourhood, the 112 sq m store is entered via a courtyard through an aluminium gate that flips open to create a roof during the day. The humble cobogó brick – a staple of Brazilian architecture – takes centre stage in the Campana’s design. The bricks, typically used to provide ventilation and shade inside Brazilian homes, are characterised by their decorative perforated patterns. Photography: Pedro Kok. Courtesy of Aesop and Estudio Campana
The Brazilian firm FGMF Arquitetos – headed by Fernando Forte, Rodrigo Marcondes Ferraz, and Lourenço Gimenes – designed Casa Mirante, a house hidden within a condominium complex in Aldeia da Serra, close to São Paulo. Casa Mirante is a vibrant, modern and highly functional family home, designed for a young couple with small children. Photography: Rafaela Netto
The Arenas Cariocas complex is effectively a three-in-one – a 400m-long project composed of three distinct wood and metal structures, which can host anything from basketball, judo, wrestling and fencing to wheelchair basketball, Paralympic rugby and boccia. London-based architects WilkinsonEyre worked on the largest venue within the Olympic Park, which it won through an international design competition as part of the AECOM masterplan bid. Photography: Robb Williamson
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. Photography: Leonardo Finotti
A unit within the Lausanne apartment building in São Paulo was given a revamp by AR Architects, the Brazilian firm headed by Juan Pablo Rosenberg and Marina Acayaba. The duo set out to create a modern and cosy apartment in the existing 140 m sq space after being approached by a young couple from NYC who owned a unit there. The clients’ passion for art, architecture and design had them yearning for a modern interior that would also pay homage to the iconic residential building’s historic 1960s outer shell.
The Catuçaba Hideaway is set within a 12,000-acre farming community, high on the side of a bluff swathed in bush and sporting views that stretch clear to the horizon. Studio MK27 has fashioned from responsibly sourced Amazon hardwoods, an elongated floating platform of expansive timber decks, four bedrooms, and cosy spaces furnished with locally-accented rugs, blue window shutters, textiles and clay bricks.
Originally designed in the late 1950s, the Castor Delgado Perez Residence in São Paulo’s Jardim Europa district is one of the most significant works of Brazilian modernist architect Rino Levi (1901-1965). After many years of neglect, the expansive villa was restored by José Armênio de Brito Cruz of Piratininga Arquitetos Associados and opened its doors as the Luciana Brito Gallery’s new home. Photography: Romulo Fialdini
