Almost half of Brazil is covered in forest, producing nearly 150 million cubic meters a year. Thanks to the large country’s wide range of tree species, Brazilian designers looking for natural, locally sourced materials have a lot of wood to choose from. Unsurprisingly, wood is a common feature in both traditional and contemporary Brazilian homes, both in construction and when creating decorative surfaces.
The aesthetic beauty of wood’s grain pattern, combined with the warm, rich, and varying color palettes on offer, means that while achieving the strength and stability required for flooring and construction, wood is also a perfect material to form interior surfaces. Its natural color and aesthetic allow for a simple, minimalist form, giving spaces a timeless mid-century feel.
While flat wood paneling brings warmth and character to any interior, meanwhile, wood’s ability to be cut cleanly makes it easy to form unique patterns, textures, and optical illusions, without overlooking its natural attributes. Here are some of the patterns formed by the creative use of wooden surfaces in Brazilian residences.
Interior Surface Patterns Based on Square Grids
The suspended ceiling of the Jardim Europa Apartment in São Paulo, for example, features a deep waffle ceiling stretched in a central strip, connecting the open-plan space together and contrasting with a white border alongside. When set on the opposite axis, meanwhile, the same arrangement of depth combined with a square grid brings functionality to the Climbing House in Goiânia, used for the storage and presentation of books and prized objects. Even smaller projects, meanwhile, without the option of depth, can benefit from a grid pattern, as the Flamengo Apartment reveals, keeping its plain walls interesting with frames of white-painted moldings.
Extending Space With Vertical Lines
Although the world of fashion dictates that vertical lines make objects appear longer by drawing the eyes up and down, more recent psychological studies prove that when a space is filled with many lines, the optical illusion actually works the opposite way. In the example of the Q04L63 House in Rifaina, where wood was selected to complement the house’s surrounding nature, fluted vertical slats on the walls draw the eye up, optically lowering the ceiling by bringing it into consideration. As psychology suggests, however, the vertical lines make the wide, open space look wider and more open.
Vertical and Horizontal Linear Patterns
The walls, ceilings, decorative features, and even artwork in the Rest House in Muro Alto are filled with linear wood patterns both vertical and horizontal. The liberal use of wood as an interior surface material throughout the property serves to enhance the geometric patterns found roosting in the house’s sumptuous wooden roof construction. The rich tones in the roof structure – kept open to overlook the interior – combine, layer, and even join linear patterns on both axes.
Creating Layered and Chevron Patterns with Diagonal Lines
By pivoting a linear pattern by 45 degrees instead of 90, a diagonal pattern can be created for a more edgy look. Similar to combining vertical with horizontal patterns, two sets of diagonal lines can be set 90 degrees apart and laid over each other to create a mesh. This is achieved at the Apartmento Louveira with two sliding partitions that hide the mess of an open kitchen with breathable wooden panels. Meanwhile, with a ‘fishbone’ facade that highlights the project’s use of fast-growing bamboo, the Bamboo House sets diagonal line patterns back to back, forming chevron patterns that move the eyes up and down, and filling both the vertical and horizontal proportions.
Three-Dimensional Brise Patterns with Wooden Forms
If a project’s size makes it possible to think in three dimensions, rather than two, however, then combining this depth with geometric freedom can literally bring a surface out of itself. Partially separating a dining space and a walkway at the LK Apartment in Porto Alegre, for example, a pivoting wooden brise partition allows natural light through the straight gaps, while limiting sight back through to keep the dining space private and intimate. Using the brise technique purely as a decorative surface, meanwhile, the Sertão Portinari Installation is surrounded by an engaging pattern that changes as one moves past it, by changing the angle of view.
Using the Revealed Depth of Engraved Wood to Change its Material Dimension
Another advantage of using real wood as a decorative surface element is that its beauty runs more than just skin deep. The durability of the material is not just down to its strength, but also because any marks and scratches can simply be sanded away. But it also means that it’s possible for projects like the Terrace Apartment to utilize the depth of wood to form patterns. The apartment features paneling made from native Brazilian Sucupira wood, which is engraved with a parametric pattern of varying thickness, using algorithms to analyze and represent the path of sunlight on its surface.
Homes featuring wood-patterned surfaces
Jardim Europa Apartment / Perkins+Will
Climbing House / Leo Romano
Flamengo Apartment / Nop Arquitetura
Q04L63 House / mf+arquitetos
Holiday House - Muro Alto / Porto Neves Arquitetura
Apartamento Louveira / Estudio FM + Rosenbaum®
Bamboo House / Vilela Florez
LK Apartment / Oficina Conceito Arquitetura
SERtão Portinari Installation / Nildo José
Varanda Apartment / Estudio Guto Requena
Find these Brazilian homes with wooden interior surfaces and more in this My ArchDaily folder created by the Author.
This article is part of an ArchDaily series that explores features of interior architecture, from our own database of projects. Every month, we will highlight how architects and designers are utilizing new elements, new characteristics, and new signatures in interior spaces around the world. As always, at ArchDaily, we highly appreciate the input of our readers. If you think we should mention specific ideas, please submit your suggestions.
This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: The Future of Wood in Architecture presented by Tantimber ThermoWood.
Tantimber ThermoWood brings the timeless warmth of wood to modern design. Natural, renewable, and non-toxic, they transform sustainably sourced wood species into dimensionally stable and durable wood products for use in residential and commercial building and design projects. Find out more about how the enduring beauty of ThermoWood brings warmth to the built environment.
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