Choosing a home's cabinetry and furniture is not only about function and storage space but also about visual appeal. Walk-in closets, which are normally located in the master bedroom, are a good example of this. These spaces were usually used only for storing clothes, but modern closets now incorporate more unique features, transforming them into more personal and functional amenities.
Meals have always been bonding and bringing people together to eat. Sitting around a table or preparing food becomes even more enjoyable in spaces that focus on comfort and well-being. Moreover, cooking with different techniques can add a unique flavor to the experience, especially when it comes to wood-burning stoves, barbecue grills, and wood-fired pizza ovens.
In architecture, ‘span’ is the term given to the length of a structural component that extends between two supports, or the continuous space created between two pillars of a building structure, and when we think of this element, one cannot help recalling classics such as Lina Bo Bardi's MASP, Álvaro Siza's Expo'98 Portuguese National Pavilion, and the Roman Pantheon. However, there are several other buildings with this feature, and recent projects have been using innovative and bold structures to create even more unexpected designs.
August 5th is National Health Day in Brazil. Our readers have already expressed their opinion on how psychology is essential to build healthy and pleasant spaces to live in, and for this reason, we decided to explore the impacts of the spatial experience on each person's well-being, improving quality of life and reducing mental stress. In other words, architecture not only contributes to physical health through ergonomics but also affects our emotional comfort.
The Museum of Art of São Paulo - MASP will soon expand its facilities to include an annex next to the iconic project by Lina Bo Bardi. The 14-story Dumont-Adams building, which has been inactive for decades, has 7800 square meters and will be renovated to house exhibition wings, a café, a restaurant, and a restoration laboratory.
We are about to start living in a completely wireless world, but in the meantime, many people are looking for alternatives to hide wires creating a more organized and clean space. Therefore, we have provided some tips for those who want to disguise TV cables and cords from other devices to make the environment more comfortable.
A wood-burning stove (or wood burner or log burner in the UK) is a heating appliance used for cooking. Food cooked on a wood-burning stove tends to have a more intense flavor since it requires a slow, artisanal process that results in more complex dishes. For this reason, these stoves are becoming a popular choice for people who want to create a unique environment for family and friends to gather at home for a delicious meal.
A form of artistic expression mediated by a technical apparatus, photography has conquered its place among the arts, being, together with cinema, the one that can most faithfully register reality and, therefore, architecture. From large wooden boxes carrying silver emulsion plates to digital cameras and finally our smartphones, there is no doubt that photography has become more accessible to people, who step by step went from spectators to authors of images.
To celebrate World Photography Day, we invite our readers to share with us their photographs of works of architecture and cities. Without distinguishing between enthusiasts, amateurs, or professional photographers, you are invited to send photos that showcase the built space in the most varied scales. Images selected by our Content Team will be featured in an upcoming article.
Reclaimed wood is wood that has been taken from its original application and repurposed. Old buildings such as houses, barns, and warehouses, often have to be torn down, resulting in demolition waste, which can be recycled and reused. Reclaimed wood can be used for many purposes, from cladding to building structures, and is very popular in contemporary architecture all over the world.
To get you inspired, here is a selection of 12 Brazilian houses that use this recycled material in flooring, walls, decks, bathrooms, outdoor areas, and stairs.
Industrial architecture usually requires fast installation, low-maintenance components, and flexible spaces that can be used for different purposes. Therefore, modular solutions are very common in this type of construction, also adding a powerful visual language to the building.
The prominent Brazilian urbanist Jaime Lerner has passed away this Thursday, May 27, at the age of 83. Trained as an architect, Lerner was chosen by the American magazine Planetizen as the second most influential urban planner of all time, only behind Jane Jacobs. In addition to his career linked to architecture and urban planning, Lerner was three times mayor of Curitiba and twice governor of Paraná (1995-1998 and 1999-2002). Lerner graduated in Architecture in 1964 from the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) and worked at the Curitiba Institute for Research and Urbanism (Ippuc) since its creation in 1965.
One of the biggest names in Brazilian and worldwide architecture, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, passed away at the age of 92. As his son Pedro Mendes da Rocha reported to ArchDaily, the architect was hospitalized in São Paulo due to lung cancer and passed away at dawn on Sunday, May 23, 2021.
Paulo Mendes da Rocha will be remembered for the great formative role he had. His architectural creation debated life above all, raising questions and challenging ready ideas and conformity. He consolidated an influence short of language or aesthetics, formed mainly by the way of acting and thinking, in which each project was an opportunity for transformation. His ideas and designs overflowed the limits of the program, place and materiality, always bringing a new point of view to achieve revolutionary simplicity.
Modern architecture, in its early days, was based on innovative technologies of construction and a rejection of ornament, which established the use of straight lines in building design. However, thanks to the plasticity of concrete and other materials, new patterns began to emerge, resulting in more organic and curvy lines.
Wood is, without a doubt, one of the most versatile building materials there is. Treated lumber, boards, composites, or rustic hardwood, have structural and visual qualities that attract architects and clients searching for a wide range of possible applications and designs. Logs are one of the oldest ways of using this material since they require very little treatment and processing after the tree is cut and are the most natural form of lumber.
Rustic lumber is often used in vacation homes, but not only for this purpose. Below, we have gathered Brazilian houses that use rustic wood elements either in their structure or walls and finishings.
The Google Maps application will direct drivers to more eco-friendly routes that generate the lowest carbon footprint using mainly traffic data, road slopes and inclines, and other factors.
The eco-friendly option will be the application's default route if comparable options take about the same time. When alternatives are significantly faster, Google will offer choices and let users compare estimated emissions.
Ancestral, but overshadowed by other technologies that have emerged over time, the rammed-earth walls are again gaining prominence in Brazil for being a low-impact, sustainable and economical solution. Known in Portuguese as taipa, it is a rudimentary construction system that compresses the earth into wooden boxes until it reaches an ideal density that allows a resistant and long-lasting structure.
Wood in architecture, when properly managed, is often associated with sustainability but also with a sense of comfort and coziness. Well-designed joinery can provide versatility and uniqueness to interior design, among so many other benefits.
Solutions for small-scale apartments are becoming more and more needed due to the increasingly smaller apartments being built in the centers of Brazil's major cities. The high price of land, combined with the current laws and regulations, has boosted the construction of gradually smaller dwellings - which can often translate into lower quality of life for its residents.
However, that is not always the case, while architecture can play a fundamental role in transforming a small concrete and masonry box into a pleasant home that fulfills the needs of its dwellers. We have gathered 10 examples of apartments in Brazil, between 24m2 and 48m2, that transform small areas into quality spaces.
.jpg?1617310151 "Casa da Mata Azul / Studio Carlito e Renata Pascucci. Photo: © Monica Antunes")
.jpg?1607605629 "Studio Saint Hilaire / Antonio Armando de Araújo - Arquitetura e Design. Photo © Evelyn Müller")
