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MIRANTE DO HORTO HOUSE
FC STUDIO
Built area: 300 sqm
Photos: Nelson Kon
Main Idea
"The concept of the house has a strong influence of
national and international artistic movements such as the modern architecture
and Bauhaus. I believe that architecture is the result of an academic
reflection on real needs that creates possibilities according to the culture,
environment, etc. The project of the residence came
from a basic premise: maximum use of land for a huge program. Thus, the
strategy was to locate specific areas and vertical circulation in a way that
the rest of spaces enjoy extreme flexibility and a wide visual range, profiting
the structure and volume. A container rests on two “bars” and stands out in access and uses of their immediate
surroundings. The prismatic volume contains the
program of the residence on two floors plus a roof garden. This transition provided by two metal beams allows the floor of the
garage to spread to the maximum boundary of the site. Maximum occupancy without affecting ventilation and lighting guaranteed
exactly by that range.
Living Space
The major focus in the creation
of social areas was the integration between them. Through constant reunion of
friends and intense social dynamics of the owners, the spaces have their limits
diluted. The interface between the kitchen, backyard and dining room blur the
borders in favour of a large common area. There are many possibilities.
Location of the Building
The house is located in the extreme north of the city
of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Despite being the main
economic hub of the country, this part of town still has preserved a certain bucolic landscape and an intense contact with tropical nature. It´s next to "Horto
Florestal" park. The park
can be enjoyed from the attic like a “belvedere” to surroundings.
Notable View
Sculptural elements
emerge from roof to disrupt the order. The smooth curve generated by the volume
of the water tank and the copper triangle attic access contrast in chromatics
and shape.
Planning Restriction
In the process of construction of the house, no change
was needed in relation to the original design because it was designed within
the standards and urbanistic planning laws. The
minimum setbacks, the occupancy rate, height, roof-garden and the half underground
garage proposed are in accordance with applicable laws in the area.
Surroundings
The container openings are extremely
flexible in the front and back facades, while quite tenuous on the side
facades. This is a direct consequence of the immediate surroundings responding
the common practice of the neighbors doing their constructions on the border of
their private grounds. Because of this, the program is located in the perimeter
side providing a more flexible interior space and visual communication in
height trough the center of the house.
Since the
house is located in a residential
zone with extremely strict rules, the house interacts with the neighbors in
proportions, because it fits around in width and height. The project has
enhanced two preexisting surroundings: natural slope and proximity to a natural
park. The excavation of 1.5 meters allowed the construction of the half buried
garage, allowing some continuity with the natural terrain (in a cross-section
is possible to notice this fact) and the use of the roof-garden like an
observatory to the park next to the project.
Notable Points
Two huge projections
directed to the front and back facades emphasize the architectural main idea
which is to support a concrete cube in two metal beams. Understanding this as the basic architectural idea for this project, we
note a gap between the basement and the cube. Besides supporting the main volume of
the house with visual lightness, this gap brings the light and air to the
basement. The shadow from
outside translates into light in the inside.The structure is the protagonist in
the conception. Accesses through this gap were distributed as independent
elements of the geometry of the house. The space created inside, in fact, is what remains
after adding three small "boxes"
with programs. Dialectic interdependence between
home theater, kitchen and stairway is established in the residence and
demarcates a territory, as seen illustrated in the sketch next to this text.
Vertical Connection
A particular
challenge in the project was making the most
of the mixed structure (metal and concrete). The connection between them was carefully
designed because each one answers differently to the same structural demand.Materials choice was made in function of the response that
each of them gives to a specific need. The large
cantilever suggested the use of solid slabs. The
transition between the house and the basement suggested the use of the two big metal beams. (Bear the same
load as the concrete beams with half structural height) with reinforcements in
some points to avoid the collapse. The smaller black metal beams used to finish the slab between the ground
and upper floors, are used as a
support for the slide window in the front façade, as well as a support for
the panel between rooms in the back façade. Connecting the house from top to
bottom, the right wall next to the staircase inside the house offers vertical
connections to the exchange of fluids between the four height levels, while
providing space for a different event in each. On the garage floor, superior
and top terrace, it generates the studio, office and support respectively,
while in the main floor a large aquarium turns that wall in to a prism.
Eco-Friendly Measures
The natural light is abundant in space by the strategic
openings on all facades and roof that allow light to invade the interior space.
There is no artificial light need during the day. Besides being a viewpoint to the city, the roof garden
contributes to the sustainability of the residence because it refreshes the
area immediately below, the dorms.Water Heating that serves the house is done by solar energy. Panels absorb
sunlight and convert that energy into heat that is transferred to water. A
reservoir located on the roof contains the hot water that is distributed to
every house through pipes. Natural light enters next to the water tank, passes
through the upper floor and reach the social floor. This contributes to the
sustainability of construction because it saves electricity."
- FC STUDIO
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