BRINCANTE INSTITUTE

The program of the new headquarters of the Brincante Institute includes an auditorium for approximately 80 people, a rehearsal room, an administrative area, and enough storage room for musical instruments, costumes and props. The architectural concept emphasizes direct communication between the building and the street, strengthening its relationship to the neighborhood, Vila Madalena, where the Institute has been located for decades. At street level, the transition between public and private spaces occurs through vertical wooden brise-soleils that aim at exposing pedestrians to the cultural environment within the Institute. The main entrance creates a flexible open space where the box-office and an access tunnel to the auditorium are located.

The helical staircase on the left side connects three levels: ground floor, mezzanine and upper deck. The mezzanine serves as a transition and gathering space connected to the auditorium. It also serves as an extension of the ground floor foyer, allowing direct access to the seats located on the upper level and to a bridge created over the stage area. This bridge expands the capacity of the auditorium and enables artistic interventions in two levels while giving access to a garden on the back of the stage. The upper deck is composed of meeting and dressing rooms, office and small kitchen, and a multipurpose room, which opens up to a large glass window that is partially shaded by the wooden skin of the building and by the slanted roof.

HGB APT

In the renovation project for this 770m² duplex apartment in São Paulo, we sought to meet the residents’ desire to have the main rooms integrated, visually permeable and connected.

The large double-height living room is articulated to the spaces arranged at the ends from a set of vertical pivoting brises soleil, which when opened reveal the dining room and home theater on the first floor, master suite and playroom on the second floor, respectively, allowing visual integration control in the daily use of the residence. On the other hand, they protect the spaces from direct sunlight.

In this project, the staircase appears as a sculptural architectural element in the living room, with a metal sheet railing with white paint, which is extended for the circulation of the upper floor, a kind of walkway between the playroom and the couple’s suite.

The material palette was chosen seeking to create a neutral base, so that the furniture and contemporary artworks stand out. The floor of the entire apartment is in stone in large slabs. The main wall of the living room receives wooden rulers on both floors under the same alignment, which in turn mimics the access doors to the other rooms. The brises and guardrail are painted white, helping to reflect natural light throughout the space.

On the minimalist base, a few pieces of furniture specially selected with customers make up the living room, with an emphasis on the Flag Halyard armchair by Danish designer Hans Wegner.

The balcony, which continues to the interior from the leveling of the same floor, also receives a linear bench almost 17 meters in length that can be used as a living, reading and lunch space with the provision of a dining table, while flowerbeds arranged on the rear perimeter bring green to space.

FASANO ANGRA DOS REIS HOTEL + FRAD.E

AH APT

In this duplex apartment in São Paulo, the renovation and interior design sought strategies that would unite the social spaces and visually connect them to the upper floor. The living room has walls covered in wood panels and marble floors, creating a base with natural materials that receive iconic pieces of modern Brazilian design, responsible for the sectorization of each one of the spaces.

In the center, the living room is composed of the Dinamarquesa armchairs and Onda bench by Jorge Zalszupin, in harmony with the decorative pieces found in antique shops. Above this space, an opening in the slab of the first floor provides double height and strategic views from the bedrooms, protected by pivoting metal brises soleil.

On the left side, the living room seats up to eight people in Layla chairs by Carlos Motta, and on the table the copper-finished Jabuticaba pendant by the designer Ana Neute. Meanwhile, in the opposite portion, a second more intimate living room receives a curved sofa in composition with Noguchi coffee table by Isamu Noguchi. It is worth noting that other bought pieces in antique shops are distributed over the surface of the walls and floor.

Covered in the same stone and wood as the ground floor, the stairs and walls also receive artworks. On the walkway that connects the two wings of the second floor, the opening in the slab, in turn, provides an opportunity for a projection without direct access and a vertical closure in glass, as a base for sculptures. At the ends are the master suite, son and guest suites.

LUIZ STUDIO

Located in Rio de Janeiro city, the renovation project for this townhouse was designed to a multimedia artist’s studio on the ground floor and his apartment on the first floor. The process, in turn, was developed in partnership with the client, using the original architecture as a blank canvas for artistic interventions. In this sense, the facades received a grid from the superimposition of wooden slats directly attached to the masonry, which were painted in a rich color palette by the artist, who also plays the role of brise soleil and, in the future, a support structure for the growth of the vegetation.

The project kept the house’s original lateral setbacks, and the access to the studio is made on the south side, approximately two meters wide, and suitable for the inflow and outflow of materials and artworks. On the opposite side, one meter wide, there is direct access to the apartment via a staircase. In the back, a deck and garden with tropical species designed in partnership with Semear Paisagismo e Jardinagem.

The entire interior was remodeled from the subtraction of vertical planes that allowed the free plan of the main hall with double height. The studio’s open plan is fragmented with a C-shaped design, so that the central core accommodates the artist’s office, closed by colored pivoting doors on both sides, with access to the two creative wings (front “dry” area and back studio), which may or not be integrated. This last space is open to the garden and is provided with abundant natural light, coming from the large glass doors and skylight. In the circulation space between the two areas are the bathroom, storage and stairwell. The pantry is integrated into the studio and has a side concrete bench.

On the upper floor, the apartment has an integrated space with a living room, dining room and kitchen, open to the empty double height and which can be closed by three sheets of glass; and two bedrooms – one single over the office projection, and the master suite facing the street. The entire residence has herringbone wood flooring, concrete countertops and light wood joinery (the latter two, as on the lower floor).

On the terrace, the space at the height of the treetops, is accessed by a glass trapdoor – responsible for the zenithal lighting of the stairs – used as a leisure space.

BP HOUSE

Located in São Paulo, in Morumbi neighborhood. The BP House has approximately 1000sqm spread over three floors. It is an urban house located on the border with a park. The land is very wooded, so the house itself appears to be located in a park. In the basement, the garage, technical area and service facilities are located. On the ground floor are the four suites for the children, guest suite and a service center with laundry and bedroom. On the upper floor are the main room, the master suite, the kitchen and the outdoor area with garden and pool.

The customer couple wanted a home for their family. In addition to the master suite, five suites were required, one for each of the four children and one for guests. It was also very important that the project included an outdoor area for leisure with a swimming pool and landscaped treatment with intense afforestation. The whole family is very close to nature and sports, so the presence of green and open spaces was essential.

The house privileges the visual permeability guaranteed by the use of large glass panels that reveal the treetops present both in front of the house and in the forest created at the back of the land, next to the pool. The main room is integrated into a large garden with a swimming pool that also has direct access from the master suite’s balcony. The integration between the living room and the leisure area allows this place to be the meeting point for all residents. The house has a mixed structure. Main concrete structure and cover in metallic structure. Wood is a very present material, whether in ceilings and furniture. The glass of the frames allows the green present in the surroundings of the house to be visible from the inside.