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Architects: Passos Arquitetura
- Area: 2756 ft²
- Year: 2017
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Photographs:André Mortatti
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Lead Architect: Thiago Passos
Text description provided by the architects. The main challenge of this project was to bring to the space located in a central area of São Paulo a house feeling, where the contact with nature can be always present. For this reason, the use of natural textures and the enhancement of natural lighting were chosen and light colors that contrast with the green present in the gardens are predominant. The project performed as an experiment to apply elements of Japanese’s architecture: a light composition, use of raw materials and their own natural textures, as well as tsuboniwa and shakkei as the landscape concept.
Tsuboniwa is a common element in Japanese’s architecture since the 8th century, but over the time it got modernized. It can be read as a courtyard garden, planted enclosed a building, in this case, the apartment, something similar as a winter garden. This element was applied in the social area of the apartment, as a visual connection between the living room, the dining room and the kitchen.
On the other hand, Shakkei could be translated as “borrowed scenery”, when the project uses elements of the background to compose the architecture and the landscape. In the balcony, we can see the treetop of a flamboyant, and the landscape project took it as the design concept to create a garden through all the balcony. It results in an arrangement between interior and exterior elements, as a vast green area inside an apartment on a complete urbanized zone of São Paulo.
With the renovation of the apartment, the social area has become a large living space for the residents. Kitchen, dining room, living room and TV are joined and directly connected to the apartment's garden. It is important to say that, if necessary, the kitchen can be isolated from the other environments by the pivoting glass doors that allow the passage of light, but block the view of those in the room.
In the social area, the American oak wood floor was chosen, which harmonizes with the natural wood joinery of Paricá. The original walls of the facade were peeled and painted in white, bringing a rustic feel to the environment. The colors of the environment are given by the green of the landscaping and small highlights of the decoration.
In addition to the design of the entire carpentry of the apartment, the office also designed some of the furniture present in the room, such as the sofa and the dining table. About the sofa, we can say that it was designed to become the center of integration and connection of the environment. It has multiple functions and can be used both for moments of relaxation and for moments of conversation and socialization. The table, on the other hand, has a joinery structure with mounting made in fittings, inspired by Japanese joinery. It has a simple and light design, adapting to the most diverse types of environments.
