Mirante do Horto House - Flavio Castro

The design of the residence came from a basic premise: maximum use of land for a huge program. Thus, the strategy was to locate specific areas and vertical circulation In a way that the rest of spaces enjoy extreme flexibility and a Wide visual range, profiting the structure and volume.

The space created inside, in fact, is what remains after adding three small “boxes”. Dialectic interdependence between home theater, kitchen and stairway is established in the residence and demarcates a territory, as seen illustrated in the sketch next to this text.

A shadow The service, adjacent to the garage, is four feet below street level. Above is the container with the other functions of the house. A shadow separates them.

The shadow on the outer part translates into light in the inner space. The range allows the lighting and ventilation of the environments below and gives an extreme light visual to the massive upper volume.

The structure is the protagonist in the conception. Accesses through this gap were distributed as independent elements of the geometry of the house. Container on bars A container rests on two “bars” and stands out in access and uses of their immediate surroundings. The prismatic volume contains the program of the residence on two floors plus a roof garden.

The container openings are extremely flexible in the front and back facades, while quite tenuous on the side walls. This is a consequence of the immediate surroundings because the common practice of the neighbors is constructing on the border of their private grounds. Because of this, the program is located in the perimeter side providing a more flexible interior space and visual communication in height.

This transition provided by two metal beams allows the floor of the garage to spread to the maximum boundary of the site. Maximum occupancy without affecting ventilation and lighting guaranteed exactly by that range.

Vertical connection Connecting the house from top to bottom, the right wall next to the staircase inside the house offers vertical connections to the exchange of fluids between the four height levels, while providing space for a different event in each. On the garage floor, superior and top terrace, it generates the studio, office and support respectively, while in the main floor a large aquarium turns that wall in a prism.

Drilled plans The house was designed by a succession of free horizontal slabs with strategic holes. In these 8×11 meters plans, these holes allow vertical circulation and the entry of zenith light. Natural light enters next to the water tank, passes through the upper floor and reach the social floor.

Roof garden Besides being a viewpoint to the city, the roof garden contributes to the sustainability of the residence because it helps cooling the area immediately below, the dorms.

Sculptural elements emerge from this observation platform disrupting the order. The smooth curve and mass volume of the water tank and the pointed triangle that covers the access contrasts in chromaticism and formality.

Architect: Flavio Castro Location: Mirante do Horto Condominium, Horto Florestal, São Paulo, Brazil Construction: Flavio Castro, José Claudio Magalhaes Project Year: 2009 Construction Date: 2010 Land area: 226 sqm Built area: 300 sqm Photos: Nelson Kon

VIA: TECNOHAUS