帕里卡图巴住宅丨巴西丨iapó estúdio

Architects:iapó estúdio

Area:2195ft²

Year:2023

Photographs:Susan Valentim

Lead Architect:Isabella De Bonis

City:Vila de Paricatuba

Country:Brazil

Text description provided by the architects. The concept for the Paricatuba House project emerged after the land was purchased, as there were already three containers stacked on the site. Thus, the project originated from the need to renovate these containers. The land is beautiful, surrounded by vegetation, and faces the Rio Negro in the village of Paricatuba, 40 minutes by car from Manaus (Amazonas). In this context, the project aimed to integrate the containers with nature, framing the beautiful view of the vegetation and the river.

Another important aspect was the clients' request for a rustic design, featuring industrial materials and a "container look." Therefore, it was necessary to consider how to provide environmental comfort for these containers without resorting to the usual solution of lining the interior walls with insulation and drywall. To address this challenge, a large roof was designed with an extensive overhang, detached from the container, which directly receives sunlight and protects the internal areas. Another solution was to construct a kind of double wall on the west facade with thermal-acoustic tiles to reduce solar incidence. Since heat is the main challenge for environmental comfort in the Amazon, both solutions effectively addressed this issue.

The program for the Paricatuba House is simple, as it is a weekend residence. For this reason, the design focused on open spaces integrated with the outdoor area. The ground floor consists of the union of two 12-meter-long containers, which were fully opened and structurally reinforced, creating a generous space integrated with the kitchen and a large external deck. To accommodate the bathrooms and the staircase connecting the floors, a masonry block was designed adjacent to the containers, with two floors and a bathroom on each floor. The upper floor is composed of a 12-meter-long container, featuring two bedrooms and an office connected to a large balcony with a river view.

The Paricatuba House was an original experience in its design and construction, as it aimed to restore the containers while retaining their signs of age and use. It is a house with some dents and that appears slightly skewed from certain angles; however, these attributes are part of its charm.

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