The 14-Bis House, with its name, speaks volumes without uttering a word. It evokes playfulness, desire, determination, and accomplishment. Named after the famous airplane of Santos Dumont, it is rich in meaning and carries a field of images that is pure poetry. These meanings transcend the architect and the family; they belong to a nation. Here, material and immaterial dance in harmony.
The journey begins with a gentle touch upon the land, bringing a sense of security, an invitation to dwell. Sensations are shaped and nurtured through the house’s relationship with the landscape and the garden. Large openings invite the passage of time and allow air to flow freely. The breeze, carried by the wind, refreshes and fills the house, making room for the new. The old Maria Fumaça, the steam train, sweeps across the landscape and meets the new.
The inherited furniture brought into the home echoes the past and the importance of memory. Once again, the old and the new converse. The kitchen, with its island and cutting-edge appliances, responds to modern needs while still allowing for the preparation of grandmother’s recipes. The message remains clear: while individual human time is fleeting, humanity persists and is remembered.
Unconventional angles define the space, framed by expansive openings. The house becomes a porch, part of the garden. The warm climate invites life outdoors, and the architecture answers that call. The angular form departs from traditional Brazilian architecture, yet the sensations it evokes remain timeless. The wooden ceiling, its textures, its uses, its very essence, create a sense of comfort. The past is revisited, and in its wake, the desire for the future is built—a continuous, poetic construction.
Light flows through the house, revealing possibilities, time, space, existence. "Silence speaks." The forms, the plasticity, emerge as the result of an intention. A system weaving together reason, emotion, senses, fullness, emptiness, textures, nature, light, and shadow. Architecture comes to life.
The ensemble creates meaning, contributing to the construction of a place.
The house is inhabited, the light is on, shaping the city and nurturing connections. It shifts from being an individual space to becoming part of the larger cityscape.