São Paulo-based architecture studio Atelier Branco Arquitetura has designed a pair of all-white volumes on a flat landscape in the north-east of Brasil, on the shore of São Miguel do Gostoso. 

The site is defined by softest things: the wind and the clouds, rises casa Modico, which can be one of characteristics of the projects designed by Atelier Branco. 

Named Modico House (or Casa Módico), the private residence is divided into two simple volumes which stand alone on the landscape overlooking the ocean and providing mesmerizing view for its users.

The architects were influenced by the land and its connection to the wind which has resulted in a pure and simple architectural language depending on conversations between the client and the studio to imagine a proper response to local architectural traditions. 

"Therefore the building is respectful in the construction technology, it’s ecologically sustainable and is a reference point for the landscape," said Atelier Branco Arquitetura.

"Observing the longitudinal section rise the intention to create natural ventilation cruising every space of the house." 

The architects designed two volumes, which are separated by a small patio, the first volume consists of a big kitchen in the middle of the space and two bedrooms that were designed in two sides of the house. 

The second volume contains a large living room in the center of the house and other two bedrooms were arranged in two sides of the house, following the same strategy in design. All common places are situated at the heart of the house. 

"Indeed the separations between the common spaces and the privates one are defined by a composition of bricks that creates a filter that facilitates ventilation," added the architects.

"The lightness in living these spaces is marked by the rhythm of the dance of the air, shaped by the wind. Lightness has always been associated with the art of dance. Yet even this exuberant art is very connected to its opposite, the discipline."

Given the topography of the site, the section determines the resolution of the project, two similar volumes located on a flat landscape, one meter above the sea level. 

In the project are defined two principal axes, the first one cuts perpendicularly the ocean and connects all the common areas defining the sequence the symmetry of the house. 

The second one parallel to the waters of the ocean benefits the natural resources for the ventilation, either as emptiness or as a filter. Four doors of different sizes introduce into each common area. At the arrival we find the smallest as the entrance to the house.  

Two identical doors open onto the interior patio, where we find a long wooden table of 7 m, the second identical door welcomes us in the living room with just a piece of furniture: a sofa in front of the ocean. A 3x3m door lets us on the wooden deck, 80 sqm of a stage on the beach.

Four identical rooms develop along with this system, in these rooms the inside-outside view is filtered by a wall of horizontal wooden slats that produces a kind of fade in the vibration of light.

"Here as well the simplicity of form and colors: the balance of the walls, the natural wood of the blinds and the grey of the concrete floor are a quality that comes through a path and a project that is not simple, which indeed requires maturity, wisdom and courage," the firm continued. 

"The ability to remove, to clear to get to the essentiality. Simplicity is clarity. Clarity is elegance, substance, honesty and therefore moral beauty."

Situation plan

Site plan

Floor plan

Elevations

Elevation

Elevations

Project facts

Project name: Modico House

Architects: Atelier Branco Arquitetura

Location: São Miguel do Gostoso, Brazil 

Date: 2019 

All images © Federico Cairoli

All drawings © Atelier Branco Arquitetura

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