This house is located in Brazil's Serra da Canastra region, in the 'Vale da Gurita' near Delfinópolis, Minas Gerais (-20.328394, -46.668900). The family, needing a shelter for occasional stays at their Vale Formoso Farm in the Cerrado, chose a strategic hilltop location within the valley. This spot offers 360-degree views of the surrounding landscape. The architectural design emphasizes contemplation and interaction with nature, with the house set against a backdrop of green mountains and blue skies.
The client-defined program required two suites, a large bedroom with bunk beds for family, visitors, or adventurers, and a bathroom that also serves the social area.
The design also included a spacious open area, kitchen, and dining room. The bedrooms are separated from the expansive open area, which seamlessly connects to the dining room and kitchen.
The layout begins with a square, diagonally divided in alignment with the north, creating two right-angled triangles: one dedicated to the social area—integrating the dining room, kitchen, and open area—and the other housing the bedrooms and bathrooms.
The diagonal lines introduce dynamic perspectives, breaking the parallelism with the mountains and enhancing views, including the distant valley and the depression between the hills. The design aligns with the four cardinal points, forming two perpendicular axes in an 'X' configuration, ensuring all rooms have access to the exterior.
The roof is a metaphor for the mountains, drawing inspiration from the natural aesthetics of the surrounding landscape. Its organic, less rigid shape mimics the distant peaks, blending the house into its environment. Designed to shield the interior from direct sunlight, wind, and storms, the roof features extended eaves for enhanced functionality, covering a total area of 250m². The water slopes were carefully calculated using Fibonacci sequence numbers. The house's form, with varied angles and no extensive flat surfaces, is engineered to allow strong winds, channeled by the topography, to pass through with minimal friction.
The combination of the metallic roof and the house’s structure allows for free-form angles, providing both lightness and strength while eliminating the need for interior columns. This open floor plan minimizes visual obstructions, enhancing circulation and creating a seamless connection between the interior and exterior views. Sandwich panels were used in the roof to ensure thermal and acoustic comfort within the space. The interior side of the roof reflects light from strategically placed spotlights on the metallic beams, creating a soft, indirect illumination that ensures visual comfort.
Light materials were chosen to innovate the traditional old country houses of the region and to facilitate the locomotion through the muddy roads that lead to the isolated place of construction. Experimentation with modern materials, such as the system of structural panels - EPS panels integrated with welded steel wire mesh – offered easy and quick assemble, not needing any pillars and beams, which resulted in saving woodwork for molds and cheapening the handwork. In addition, the technology allows having a thermo-acoustic barrier from the exterior to the interior of the house, giving it a high level of stiffness with structural mortar.
At the heart of the design, the highest point of the structure houses the water tank. This central location is ideal for efficient water distribution and facilitates optimal air exchange between the interior and exterior, promoting faster circulation due to the pressure difference at higher altitudes. The hinged opening in the glass enclosure surrounding the water tank enhances airflow. The transparency of the enclosure allows natural light to penetrate the interior, illuminating the center of the house and the reservoir access, while also aiding in dehumidification and pest control.
In an effort to harmonize with the natural terrain, the house features a cantilevered slab that preserves the existing land contours, minimizing construction impact. This cantilever also serves as a seating area for valley contemplation. The true ornamentation of the house lies in its overall volume. Finishes like burnt cement floors and plaster-painted walls lend a rustic charm to this farmhouse. The design also revives the traditional blue and white color scheme used in the region's historic country houses, a tradition brought by European immigrants. The use of 'sky blue,' a color with roots in international architectural styles and baroque Rome, not only pays homage to the 18th century but also accentuates the interplay of light and shadow, highlighting the building’s forms. This blue hue helps blend the structure with the sky, allowing the roof to stand out when atmospheric conditions permit, creating a dynamic interpretation of the building’s form.
The design embraces expressive freedom through the progressive dematerialization of the building's volume, fostering a seamless integration between interior and exterior spaces. This approach ensures continuity across walls and openings, creating a unified spatial system. Glass doors are incorporated into the common areas, blurring the boundaries between inside and out and offering mutual benefits for both environments. The natural landscape serves as a backdrop for the new interventions, with every space facing the exterior inviting users to step out and engage with the native lawn, blending comfort with the surrounding nature.
The project aims to capture a sense of lightness and poetic versatility through its forms, blending technological elements with natural aesthetics. Each moment and viewpoint reveals a distinct perspective of the surrounding landscape. The varied spatial configuration is highlighted by sunlight filtering through carefully positioned openings, constantly shifting the atmosphere. Angled design elements allow views to extend beneath the roof, offering diverse perspectives across different areas. Ultimately, the project aspires to create an observatory that functions as both a protective shelter and a seamless extension of its natural surroundings.
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