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Architects: Atelier77
- Area: 73194 ft²
- Year: 2018
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Photographs:Monique Cabral, Fernando Bonini
Text description provided by the architects. CASA FIRJAN is a space for reflection and creation of proposals and innovative solutions to the challenges of the new economy.
The project, recently awarded as the Best New Building in the Annual Award of the Architect´s Institute of Rio de Janeiro, is the result of an architectural competition in 2012, promoted by the Federation of Industries of Rio de Janeiro. Implemented on the site of the Palacete Linneu de Paula Machado, residence of the family Guinle in Botafogo, CASA FIRJAN connects in its various spaces corporate, educational and cultural activities, promoting encounter among the actors of the Creative Industries within a space of connectivity and interaction.
The design of the project stimulates the appropriation of space by its users, promotes the dialogue between the different buildings of the complex, between internal and external, between students, entrepreneurs and visitors.
With a widespread program, the space will offer lectures, courses, business forums, fab lab, exhibitions and outdoor cinema on the central square.
Within the intense and bustling neighborhood of Botafogo, the site of the CASA FIRJAN forms a space of repose in the urban fabric of the neighborhood, a place of relaxation where the historical Palacete and its century-old tree lined gardens generate an environment of reflection and contemplation.
The insertion of a building for education, production, exhibition and discussion provokes an instigating dialogue with the environment and evokes new occupation of the historical place, guiding the space to creativity, knowledge, art and leisure.
In the setting of the new building, the existing trees were preserved, and an internal square was created between the building and the Palacete, to generate meeting space and to allow the legibility of the two moments of construction. The new building of CASA FIRJAN gives the protagonism to the historical Palacete, creating an instigating dialogue.
The geometry of the building consists of two blocks on a single basement, connected on the last floor. The different sectors of the building are connected by an internal course that is largely located on the outside facade. The void created between the blocks is part of this course and forms a space of multiple activities free to the students' appropriation.
The elevations of the building are marked by transparency. The façade to Rua Guilhermina Guinle is composed by large glass panels presenting the building inviting and receptive. The internal facades, facing the square and the Palacete, present a double skin with a glass façade and a layer of mobile panels of vertical wood louvers, which protect the facade of the direct solar incidence and allow visibility of the internal activities. The movement of the louvers generates dynamism and vivacity.
The building stands out for its functional design and its sustainable attitudes. In addition to the natural lighting through the glass facades and shading by the louver panels, it works with reuse of rainwater and use of solar energy. Natural ventilation and economical air conditioning systems complete the energy efficiency. The project was awarded with the second place in the Saint-Gobain Prize for Architecture - Sustainable Habitat in the 'Institutional Design' category.
The Palacete Linneo de Paula Machado was built by the family Guinle in 1906 with a project by John Oberg. In 1910 an extension by architect Armando da Silva Telles conferred the prevailing architectural style to the building, which is still observed today.
From 1911, the couple Celina Guinle and Linneode Paula Machado lived in the residence. In 2003 the building and the gardens were registered by the Municipality, in 2006 by the State of Rio de Janeiro. In 2010 occurred the acquisition of the property by FIRJAN.
The Palacete Linneo de Paula Machado is a typical example of architecture in the beginning of the twentieth century in Brazil, with an eclectic composition of French influence.
The restoration of the Palacete maintains integrally its original configuration, harmoniously inserting the technical needs of the new occupation as a corporate and cultural space. The original elements have been preserved, parquet floors, mosaics, ornaments, and new elements were added, like a new lighting and furniture.
The furniture in accordance to the vocation of CASA FIRJAN represents Brazilian design, exposing classic objects, with a room dedicated to Sergio Rodrigues and his students, and contemporary ones, like furniture by Marcos Ferreira, Bruno Faucs and Marcelo Ligieri. Furnitures individually designed for this project by Atelier77 complete the ambience.
