Taking advantage – Brazil
The RN residence was designed for a couple, for their children and grandchildren to spend their weekends and vacations on the edge of a large dam, at Itaúna, Brazil where the possibilities of integration between architecture and nature stand out. From the initial visits to the project site, Jacobsen architects identified the scenic potential of the large dam that dominated the landscape. To take advantage of the numerous options for nautical entertainment present at the site, several summer houses were built next to the water. In general, these houses were located as close as possible to the water line. On the family’s own land, there was a house set up close to the dam.
The site’s analysis allowed the studio to identify the principles that would guide the development of the project. There was a leafy native Vinhático tree, at the back of the existing house. The project was essentially developed around the tree, so that studio could create a large flat and landscaped area, defined by the level of the roots. The ground floor, plan and asymmetric, frames the courtyard, which is delimited laterally by rooms and balconies and, at the back, by the bedrooms. With this spatial configuration, all the rooms of the residence had a wide view of the external area.
Another main element for the architectural design was the creation of a wooden deck under the canopy of the tree, which connects the house to the garden in a natural way. Pivoting doors open the entrance hall, where a “garden” of iron ore stones recalls the region’s productive vocation, seeking to establish connections with the specificities of the region.
Following this reasoning, the design team experimented using finishing materials that refer to the typology of the Brazilian “farmhouse”. In this sense, the granite appears both on stone walls and on the floors of social areas. They also choose to use the Freijó wood applied to the ceiling and to the hollow panels of the bedrooms. The wood takes a central role in the development of the project, allowing the configuration of a contemporary concept. Providing the integration of external and internal areas, the use of wood was linked to the creation of spaces endowed with filtered natural light, in addition to contributing to the exhibition of important pieces of art and the internal furniture of the residence
