Boa Vista Home / Gabriel Pozzobom

Boa Vista House / Gabriel Pozzobom

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Text description provided by the architects. The Boa Vista House is a refuge in the Brazilian countryside made of raw materials: stone, wood, clay, and fair-faced concrete. Located on sloping north-facing land, the house was designed according to the client’s wishes: a country home entirely connected to the landscape, permeated by the fresh breeze of the woods, well lit, and at the same time protected from heat and excessive sunshine.

Its volumetry is distinguished by a large concrete slab that seems detached from the body of the house. In order to provide all the rooms with views of the surrounding landscape, its plan is comprised of two intersected volumes that serve for private and social activities.

Since the clients wanted a home to age in, the program was settled on a single floor. Together with the shed and the stone walls around it, the house projects a perfect square on the ground; a form that is rarely found in nature and that contrasts with the surrounding landscape. The long straight lines of this shape also create a play of colors and contrast that vary throughout the day over walls and floor.

The living area of the Boa Vista House has large windows with a view of the hills in front and of the pond near the veranda. These windows also catch the wind that is distributed through the house, creating a comforting atmosphere in the Brazilian summer. The strip windows along the circulation not only allow cross ventilation in the entire house but also strengthen the relationship between inside and outside, giving nature an important role when experiencing the interiors. The private volume also faces the landscape, but in a more private position, distant from the main street but with an unobstructed view of the pond and the sunrise in the hills. 

Combined, both volumes form an inner yard protected from the frequent northeast winds. This area also serves as an outside living space where the owners can receive guests outdoors in privacy.