House 6 / Marcio Kogan

© Pedro Kok

Architect: Marcio Kogan
Location: São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Co-author: Diana Radomysler
Interior Design Co-authors: Diana Radomysler, Mariana Simas
Project Team: Beatriz Meyer, Carolina Castroviejo, Eduardo Chalabi, Eduardo Glycerio, Gabriel Kogan, Lair Reis, Maria Cristina Motta, Oswaldo Pessano, Renata Furlanetto, Samanta Cafardo, Suzana Glogowski
Landscape Architect: Renata Tilli
General Contractor: Lock Engenharia
Structure Engineer: Leão & Associados
Site Area: 890 sqm
Built Area: 995 sqm
Project Year: 2009-2010
Photographs & Video: Pedro Kok

The House 6 project was thought out after the client had made an important request. The family wanted a covered external space to be used for everyday living. This space should be used to organize all the social life of the house.  The Brazilian tropical climate suggests ample use of these solutions in vernacular as well as in modern architecture.  Beginning from the colonial, Brazilian architecture has usually incorporated a space that was known as the veranda. Verandas are covered linear spaces in front of the living room and bedrooms which act as the intermediary between the interior and exterior.

ground floor plan
first floor plan
second floor plan

In the House 6 project, the idea of the veranda has been reinvented. The veranda is not exactly in front of the living room, disposed longitudinally, but, rather, perpendicular to it. The wooden pillars that give support to the structure and the clay tiles of traditional verandas have been substituted by modern pilotis that support a volume of flat slabs. The veranda of House 6, nonetheless, still remains an open space and, simultaneously, opens to the garden and the pool. It is a living room, a TV room and an extension of the internal kitchen.

This space, then, structured the entire architecture of the house, organized in two transversal volumes and an annex in the back that holds a home office. The lower volume houses the utilities, the kitchen and the living room with door-frames that can be recessed into the walls, and thereby entirely opening the internal space to either side.  This sets the cross-ventilation and an unfettered contiguous view of the garden.  The upper volume has the private area of the house with the bedrooms and, on the third floor there is a small multiple-use living room alongside an upper deck.

© Pedro Kok
© Pedro Kok

Architecturally, the space of the veranda, located under the bedrooms, would have a low ceiling-height, to create a warm feeling. The sum of the structure of the two perpendicular volumes and the living room ceiling-height would result in a very high ceiling. Thus, it was decided to make the living room lower in relation to the veranda and the garden. This result made it possible to have a house with elongated proportions and the viability of a covered external pleasant space to be used on both warm and cool days in the city of São Paulo.

* Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
Cite: "House 6 / Marcio Kogan" 26 Jul 2010. ArchDaily. Accessed 25 May 2013. <http://www.archdaily.com/70359>

16 comments

  1. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    I like the wooden treatment w/t a simple design and expressed in a sense of coolness

    Reply
  2. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    this is an exceptional masterpiece. excellent work! perfect detailing, awesome concept and simplicity. i am a big marcio kogan’s architecture fan. congratulations to the design team and to the photographer.

    Reply
  4. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    It’s a beautiful house, well made. Although I miss something refreshing, some kind of progress and innovation.

    Reply
  12. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    I’ve always been a fan of Kogan, and this house is “just” another dream house for me… now becoming a fan of Pedro Kok’s work. His videos and photos perfectly bring us the feeling of the building… congrats!!!

    Reply
  14. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    i love all every work that marcio made.
    i`m a big fan of “Marcio architecture”.
    great detail, simple, consisten, just love it.
    can`t wait to see more.

    Reply
  15. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    As beautiful the design is, I am still absolutely baffled about the practicality of living in this structure.

    1) houses seem to be built awfully close with the neighbours, especially at the back. Very lax regulations in Brazil, perhaps?

    2) do the inhabitants not drive cars?

    3) no fans, and I don’t see condensers for the centralized aircon (if there’s any). That is a massive house, and I can only imagine the sweltering heat of Sao paolo. Cooling the place down would be impractical, no?

    4) bedrooms are huge, but I guess even the kids are minimalists. There are hardly any storage area in the house.

    Reply

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