Mi Casa / Studio [+] Valéria Gontijo

Curated by Pedro Vada

Architects: Studio [+] Valéria Gontijo
Area: 890 m²
Year: 2017
Photographs:Front Filmes
Manufacturers: Cosentino, Flexform, Casual Móveis, Chance, Deca, Dinaflex, Gradebras, Impercia, Kabala, Ornare, Talentus Esquadrias, Vallori

Text description provided by the architects. The Mi Casa project was a dichotomy between the enthusiasm and the objectivity of the creative process. Designing for an architect, by architects, was and always will be a challenge, as we sought to create a practical, functional and timeless home. As in all Studio + projects, we sought an architecture that reflected personal taste but also followed the desire to simplify our lives.

This trend became key in the conceptual development of the party. Clear volumes and pure geometries gave the design party rationality and harmony. The house was distributed in three blocks: function, connect and dwell. Furthermore, the consistent application of concrete and wood created harmony, as this uniform materiality creates a sense of integration.

The volumes overlap by intersecting the blocks, slab to slab. Only the central mass, which houses the social spaces whose purpose is to connect, is transparent and integrated with the gardens. The initial sketches always showcased a desire to juxtapose the heaviness of the concrete aesthetic with a light, floating floor slab.

The 87 pivoting doors made of wooden chamfered slats create the external façades of the project, where nature to become an integral part of the quotidian of the house, allowing all of the spaces to be completely integrated and open to the gardens. This change in opacity of the façade creates a dynamic relationship with the exterior. We worked alongside the landscaping team at Cenário, from São Paulo, to preserve all the existing native cerrado vegetation. The Caryocar near the pool was essential to the design, and this helped determine that the architecture created contemplated its urban context, Brasília.

The interior design is punctuated by personal choices (antiques, pieces chosen during trips, family art), gained elegance with the complement of Italian furniture, such as the Flexform sofas. The search for every piece, every painting and adornment gives the project a unique and important singularity.

A seemingly simple house, but one that carries a story full of challenges and efforts, ever since its conception. The carefully chosen lighting design, the effort in the execution of the walls, the mixture of board-formed concrete, and the stroke of a client-architect, to the last painting chosen for the dining room. Mi Casa is a house that allows for its continuous adaptation to the tastes and preferences of its inhabitants.