This house in Curitiba came at the request of a couple born in Rio de Janeiro with three children who decided to move out of an apartment to have more contact with nature. The project site which includes a preserved woodland in a closed condominium had already been chosen with the involvement of our studio. From this, a series of solutions were provided so that architecture relates to nature in different ways all the time, as if the woods not only passed through the house, but was also part of it.
The sectors of the house are organized in blocks, each evidenced through its materiality. Parallel to the access street, the lower front block entirely clad in fulget houses the garage and service sector; the lower rear block clad in stone contains the leisure sector. Transversal to these first two, the cast-in-place concrete upper block encloses the four-suite intimate sector. Between the two lower blocks and the upper block is the social area. Large glass doors on both sides run until they hide completely and open to the woods on one side and the garden on the other, interconnecting the outside areas when crossing the room. Deck areas appear over the lower blocks where there is no overlap with the upper block.
The lower and top blocks loose from each other and form a slit that works as a clerestory, where diffuse natural light enters from the outside. It is also through this feature that the vegetation of the internal garden appears on the front facade. On the side facades, the vegetation hangs like curtains from the upper floor flower boxes.
The large glass doors allow to dilute the perception between what the internal and external environments are and to enter the house through several possible options. Even so, a discreet side entrance configures the formal social access, where the landscaping traces a path of introspection towards the atmosphere of the house.
In a single environment with burnt cement floors and high ceilings, the kitchen, living and dining areas are integrated. A wooden bookcase with fireplace separates this environment from the children’s playroom, where it becomes white. From there one can access the music and sewing room. The window frames are designed to fulfill a specific function in each environment. In the playroom, the window is squarely at the level of the children's eyes and in the music and sewing room, a large window opens to the woods. Outside the same volume, the orchidarium is set in stone and receives a large organic worktop and wood shelves. At the request of customers, the garage also serves as a social area when the hinged window opens
outwards and informally incorporates the barbecue - which in this way can have internal or external use - to the garden.
Under the wooden staircase set in the stone wall, vegetation appears once again, here in the form of an internal garden. Upon reaching the upper floor, skylights and next to the floor lighting solutions preserve the intimate corridor. The four suites have openings from floor to ceiling facing the woods, which in a way is related to the flower boxes at the feet of those who contemplate it.
