Brazil Week // Round-up of Smokin’ Hot Brazilian Architecture, Part II.

Oh no. Today is the last day of our Brazil Week guys. Are you sad? No? Well – you should be. But before you go off drowning your sorrows in pear cider and carbohydrates, we still have a fair bit of hot Brazilian action to get through. Hooray! So without further ado, please make some noise for Part II Round-up of Smokin’ Hot Brazilian Architecture.

Round-up of Smokin’ Hot Brazilian Architecture, Part I.
Check out the entire Brazil Week on Yellowtrace.

Casa Cubo by Isay Weinfeld // São Paulo, Brazil.

A spiral staircase made from Brazilian ironwood links two floors inside this São Paulo house, designed by Isay Weinfeld as a private gallery and guest house for two art collectors. Isay Weinfeld was commissioned to create a house they could use to present exhibitions, host parties and house guests during events such as the São Paulo Art Biennial. Errr… what the fudge. That’s totally hot.

Photography © Fernando Guerra from FG+SG.

BT House by Studio Guilherme Torres // Maringá, Brazil.

São Paulo-based Guilherme Torres has developed ideas which fuse the modern and the traditional. Guilherme’s own house, designed by the architect himself, bears a chequered wood design, a kind of brise soleil called mashrabiya, which is a classic feature in Eastern architecture.

Images courtesy of Guilherme Torres.

See the whole feature, including more images and a video of this project on Yellowtrace. 

Sumaré House by Isay Weinfeld // São Paulo, Brazil.

Isay Weinfeld designed the Sumaré house, in São Paulo, for a graphic designer who desired a “spacious house, where she could work, exercise, entertain friends and, of course, live in.” Due to height restriction laws, the building could not exceed 2 floors, thus an underground floor was needed for the caretaker’s quarters and the atelier. In the living room, a long étagère displays the owner’s collection, ranging from works of art to design and vintage objects. The home also includes a swimming pool and a dance floor for the designer to practice ballet routines, in addition to entertaining areas, two bedrooms and all other rooms suitable to a residence. Some people have way too much cash.

Images courtesy of Isay Weinfeld. Photography © Nelson Kon.

Hotel Black by Studio Guilherme Torres at Mostra Black // São Paulo, Brazil.

Studio Guilherme Torres completed a temporary installation titled “Hotel Black”. The project formed part of MostraBlack – a 40-day annual event that features creativity of the top professionals in architecture, design and décor throughout Brazil. Since 2011, the entire cast of MostraBlack has been exclusively invited by the event curators after a careful selection and approval process.

Images courtesy of Studio Guilherme Torres. Photography by Felipe Abe.

See the whole feature and more images of this project on Yellowtrace. 

Apartamento Tres Marías by AR Arquitetos // São Paulo, Brazil.

Three Marias live in the building, which was built in the early 1950s, in Avenida Paulista, only a few blocks away from AR Architects’ office. Before buying the 130sqm apartment in 2009, the owners envisioned a new layout that would make for a better use of space. “The facade was composed of three modules of double windows: one room which had the form of” L “, and the other of the two rooms,” Pablo says. “We eliminated a bedroom to create the broad, square and with a large glazed living.” Within five months of renovation, they demolished many walls to open the rooms and integrate environments, transforming the property into a loft. “The idea was to work the contrast between the old and the new, making an interface between two moments of architecture.”

Images courtesy of AR Arquitetos. Photography by Maíra Acayaba.

Yucatan House by Isay Weinfeld // São Paulo, Brasil.

The Yucatan House was built in the leafy neighbourhood of Jardim America, in São Paulo, for a young couple and their three children. Everything about this house somehow reflects the high-spirited family and their lifestyle: the combination of volumes, the organisation of the areas, the choice of materials, the lighting, the greenery, the pool. The home is made up of seven boxy volumes that make up the house – all of them a different size with each one finished in different materials, including precast concrete and white painted bricks.

Images courtesy of Isay Weinfeld. Photography by Fernando Guerra from FG+SG.

Produtora Kana by AR Arquitetos // São Paulo, Brazil.

Produtora Kana by AR Arquitectos, located in Pinheiros, São Paulo. The house is divided into two separate volumes by a spacious courtyard, which helps the light penetrate the indoor space and offer direct contact between the work area and the exterior. While the façade was designed in accordance with the four neighbouring houses, the black and white colours really make it stand out from the others and provide its own identity.

Images courtesy of AR Arquitetos. Photography by Pedro Kok.

Copan Apartment by Felipe Hess & Renata Pedrosa // São Paulo, Brazil.

Located in Oscar Niemeyer‘s Copan building (built between 1957-1966) in São Paulo, this apartment has been stripped back to reveal the original columns and structure and has been converted by Brazilian architect Felipe Hess & Brazilian artist Renata Pedrosa into a 140sqm contemporary loft made up of fluid and open spaces.

Photography by Fran Parente.

See the whole feature and more images of this project on Yellowtrace (complete with a ‘Little Rant About the Importance of Good Photography’). 

Cube House by AR Arquitetos // São Paulo, Brazil.

The young architecture office AR Arquitetos completed the Cube House (measuring 6 x 6 x 6m) on a very tiny urban plot in São Paulo Brazil. It was designed with a goal of maximising the area. Physically and visually both the internal and external spaces were merged, allowing maximum use of land with preservation of outdoor areas as extensions of the house.

Images courtesy of AR Arquitetos. Photography by Maíra Acayaba.

Square Nine Hotel by Isay Weinfeld // Belgrade, Serbia.

Square Nine Hotel in Belgrade is Serbia’s first world-class luxury hotel, designed by Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld. (Ok, so technically this is not in Brazil, but the force is strong with this one, you’ve got to admit). “Conceived by the owner as a groundbreaking keystone in Belgrade’s twenty first century renaissance, Square Nine brings a sumptuous, yet cozy, character to a city that’s long been dominated by international chains detached from the city’s identity and avant-garde, creative arts history.”

Images courtesy of Square Nine Hotel.

See the whole feature and more images of this project on Yellowtrace. 

Loft Cinderela by AR Arquitetos // São Paulo, Brazil.

Originally designed by Brazilian archictect João Artacho Jurado in 1956, this 70sqm old caretaker’s apartment located in the Cinderela building located on Rua Maranhão in Higienópolis, São Paulo has been re-designed by Marina Acayaba and Juan Pablo Rosenberg – founders of São Paulo based architecture practice AR Arquitetos. Previously a dark and poorly planned apartment, the duo have been able to create a contemporary and charming loft that is now bathed in natural light via the modified kitchen with large glass wall and skylight.

Images courtesy of AR Arquitetos.

Numero Bar by Isay Weinfeld // São Paulo, Brazil.

Numero bar was built on a very narrow and long strip of land in the Jardins area, in São Paulo. A walkway runs from the street through a hallway/tunnel fully covered in mirrors, leading to the main hall. At the entrance, the ceiling is extremely low and the view of the hall – cascaded – is unimpeded. Progressing towards the back, the height gradually increases: descending levels feature comfortable lounging areas, under a ceiling that extends on a continually rising surface.

Images courtesy of Isay Weinfeld. Photography by Leonardo Finotti.

Previously featured on Yellowtrace: Inside World Festival of Interiors Shortlist.

Louveira Apartment by AR Arquitetos // São Paulo, Brazil.

Another Brazilian beauty designed by the founders of AR Arquiteto, Marina Acayaba and Juan Pablo Rosenberg. The São Paulo architects have re-designed this apartment located in the iconic Louveira Edificio built in 1946 by Modernist architects Vilanova Artigas and Carlos Cascaldi.

Images courtesy of AR Arquitetos.

Open Workshop by AR Arquitetos // São Paulo, Brazil.

The building Atelier Aberto was designed by Brazilian studio AR Arquitetos. Translating to mean Open Workshop, the building in a composition of indoor and outdoor spaces that include a double-height glazed atrium creating a light-filled space, an entrance plaza and a private courtyard.

“The project proposes an exercise between indoor/outdoor and its materialisation, the idea of limit (mass/opacity) and continuity (openness/transparency), exploring how this resource can resolve the program organisation, recreating the relation between public/private as a continuity of the logic of urban space.”

Images courtesy of AR Arquitetos. Photography by Maíra Acayaba.