Porto Feliz, São Paulo, Brazil
“Some architects believe that the design of a single-family house is less important than jobs that have a major urban impact,” states the FGMF team.
“But in our opinion, the opportunity to build a house, a basic unit of architecture, and to interfere in the way people live, is perhaps one of the purest forms of architectural investigation.”
Brazilian FGMF Arquitetos collaborate with local landscape architect Raul Pereira to create Casa Cigarra, a building that interferes in the landscape in two radically different approaches while sitting on a sloping plot at the edge of a protected green area.
This architectural design has been awarded a 2021 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Looking from the street, the lower part seems to ‘sprout’ from the soil: an artificial rock rises from the earth and reveals itself as the plot tilts down towards the woods.
Eventually, the massive block detaches from the ground on the opposite side, emphasizing its form.
This partially underground volume contains mainly the bedrooms and spaces such as the family room, laundry, and garage.
Providing extra light and ventilation, a patio is carved in its core: the trees in this small garden breach the solidness and show a vertical connection to the spaces above.
In contrast to this hard and heavy base, two other blocks seem to land on it lightly.
The larger one creates a bridge through which visitors enter the house and transforms itself into a surprising cantilever that reaches the treetops in the other end. It contains the main social areas such as living and dinner rooms and kitchen.
Its left side generously opens to a deck on top of the lower block, stretching the living room into a magnificent solarium with a swimming pool that overlooks the woods and beyond.
The smaller block sits on the edge of the pool and provides shade for a table and an open kitchen with a barbecue and pizza oven.
These light volumes on the upper floor are made of steel and glass, with louvers and green walls that naturally control the house temperature.
The simple shapes and their relation to the ground and view bring up the house’s main concept: more than being inspired by this particular site, it tries to be a part of it.
Project: Cigarra House
Architects: FGMF Arquitetos
Design Team: Fernando Forte, Lourenço Gimenes, Rodrigo Marcondes Ferraz, Gabriel Mota, Luciana Bacin, Carol Magliari, Daniela Zavagli, Diogo Mondini, Eduardo Vale, Fabiana Kalaigian, Guilherme Prado, João Baptistella, Mariana Leme, Aryane Diaz, Giovanna Custódio, Guilherme Pulvirenti, Henrique Dias, José Carlos Navarro, and Raquel Gregorio
Landscape Architects: Raul Pereira
Client: Private
Contractor: Foz
Photographer: Pedro Mascaro
