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Architects: Cotí Arquitetura
- Area: 32 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Brenda Pontes
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Manufacturers: AutoDesk, Trimble
Text description provided by the architects. Garden-Office or Office-Garden. That was the basis for the renovation of the original room – 12 m², with a small window, two doors, and facing the front setback – that housed Oficina Cotí.
The design of this architectural office workshop rendered the concept – and context – of its creation on the built space: Cotí comes from the Portuguese word “cotidiano”, freely translated as “everyday routine”, and from the understanding that a large amount of strength and movement resides in the ordinary. The process of designing this space happened side by side with a master’s degree in urban planning, a context that led the boundaries between these two things to be stretched and tied up together in a way. [Spatial permeability; connection with the surroundings; place of social interaction, confrontation, and ideas Exchange].
Starting from this viewpoint, the main changes on the layout were focused on the openings: The original access was converted on a fixed window, and the existing window, facing South, gave way to a large sliding glass door that links the built area to the Garden. The proportion of 12 m² for the indoors and 20 m² for the patio strengthens the concept of a Garden-office, especially when connected both visually and physically.
The side wall of the garden was built using hollow concrete blocks, allowing the light and the shadows to flow through and, above all, guaranteeing the connection to the immediate environment: a small work warehouse, that holds metalwork, woodwork, and painting. Both motivations bring the notion of vitality to the space, starting from the choreography executed by the cast shadows, different throughout the days and months, and, second, from the proximity with construction processes, intrinsic to architecture creation and for the daily inventiveness.
Internally, the layout is lean and multipurpose. The furniture contemplates workstations, also destined for meetings, a storage unit for samples, reference material, and equipment, and a light table used for sketching, building models, and other manual activities.
The adopted materials follow a neutral color palette that, in addition to the applied textures, light, and shadows, constitute the space and open the way to the creative processes. Concrete, gravel, white, gray... and garden.
