Residence for Mario Masetti, Cava Estate, Cabreuva
São Paulo, Brazil · 1995
A precedent for Brazilian modernist residential design, demonstrating how raw concrete slabs, rustic stone masonry, and white stucco volumes can be composed around water features to integrate architecture with a lush landscape.
- What we like about this project
- A dark, sculptural fireplace chimney pipe rising directly in front of the curved stone wall.
Materials
- exposed-concrete
- rough-stone-masonry
- white-stucco
- concrete-paving
- water
Visual identifiers
- concrete-canopy
- stone-retaining-wall
- monopitch-roof
- reflective-pool
- brazilian-modernism
Style tags
- paulista-school
- brazilian-modernism
- brutalist
- mid-century-modern
Visual tags
- brutalist-tendency
- pavilion-typology
- water-feature
- indoor-outdoor-flow
- horizontal-massing
- regional-modernism
- Geometry
- A composition of contrasting geometries: a monopitch white stucco volume on the left, a low-slung horizontal concrete slab on the right, and a curved rough stone wall anchoring the center.
- Facade system
- Load-bearing stone masonry and cast-in-place concrete frame with stuccoed infill.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete post-and-beam system combined with load-bearing stone walls.
- Spatial scale
- A low-profile, single-story residential scale that stretches horizontally to integrate with the landscape.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct daylight casting sharp, deep shadows under the concrete canopy and highlighting the texture of the stone wall.
- Atmosphere
- A serene, sun-drenched retreat where heavy, raw materials are balanced by the lightness of water and open pavilions.
- Environmental context
- Set in a lush, rolling landscape with mature trees, palms, and distant hills under a clear blue sky.
- Spatial experience
- The architecture frames a transition between indoor and outdoor spaces, with a concrete pathway bridging a reflective water feature and leading toward deep, shaded open-air pavilions.
- Composition rhythm
- A balanced asymmetry where the verticality of the monopitch volume is offset by the long, low horizontal concrete canopy.
- Style reading
- Paulista School Modernism
- Program
- Private single-family residence
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- exposed-concrete, rough-stone-masonry, white-stucco, concrete-paving, water
- Visual identifiers
- concrete-canopy, stone-retaining-wall, monopitch-roof, reflective-pool, brazilian-modernism
- Style tags
- paulista-school, brazilian-modernism, brutalist, mid-century-modern
- Visual tags
- brutalist-tendency, pavilion-typology, water-feature, indoor-outdoor-flow, horizontal-massing, regional-modernism
- Geometry
- A composition of contrasting geometries: a monopitch white stucco volume on the left, a low-slung horizontal concrete slab on the right, and a curved rough stone wall anchoring the center.
- Facade system
- Load-bearing stone masonry and cast-in-place concrete frame with stuccoed infill.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete post-and-beam system combined with load-bearing stone walls.
- Spatial scale
- A low-profile, single-story residential scale that stretches horizontally to integrate with the landscape.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct daylight casting sharp, deep shadows under the concrete canopy and highlighting the texture of the stone wall.
- Atmosphere
- A serene, sun-drenched retreat where heavy, raw materials are balanced by the lightness of water and open pavilions.
- Environmental context
- Set in a lush, rolling landscape with mature trees, palms, and distant hills under a clear blue sky.
- Spatial experience
- The architecture frames a transition between indoor and outdoor spaces, with a concrete pathway bridging a reflective water feature and leading toward deep, shaded open-air pavilions.
- Composition rhythm
- A balanced asymmetry where the verticality of the monopitch volume is offset by the long, low horizontal concrete canopy.
- Style reading
- Paulista School Modernism
- Program
- Private single-family residence
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture