Contemporary Archive Brasília / ORLA ARQUITETURA

Contemporary Archive Brasília / ORLA ARQUITETURA

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Text description provided by the architects. The project for the new Arquivo Contemporâneo store in Brasília has simplicity as its protagonist, even inserted in a space characterized by a diversity of arid elements, since the basement was initially projected to be the garage of a commercial building. The starting point, however, was the appropriation of the concept of these elements, trying to keep the existing structure as much as possible, but in a way that didn’t interfere with or harm the presentation of the furniture.

The store has 500m² spread over two floors: the ground floor and the basement. To connect the two floors of the building, we designed a metal spiral staircase, all in white, which was the project’s highlight.

The architecture was designed as a backdrop for the furniture exhibition. For this reason, white was chosen to translate a neutral atmosphere that, together with the natural wood color of the panels, brought delicacy to the space on the store’s two floors. The detail of the inverted baseboard also helps to bring lightness and distinguishes itself from the slab and pillars in exposed concrete that contrasts with the neutral elements, recalling the essence of the original structure.

In order not to change the character of the apparent structure and to respect the existing ceiling height in the basement – almost 4 meters – the option to soften the impact of the exposed pipes was the use of an aluminum grid (beehive lining) with white paint. Following the proposal, the other apparent pipes were painted the same color. The chair gallery, designed in the basement, holds a good number of pieces and, for better visualization, a tensioned screen /illuminated screen was used to give the impression of natural light to the basement.

Taking advantage of the idea, the illuminated screen was also used on the first floor as a skylight effect. Its circular shape follows the movement of the stairs, in the same way as the curved panels in natural wood veneer installed in the back wall. The accesses to the two bathrooms were hidden by the wooden panel, in line with the matter of lightness, as the other elements that inspired the project.

The window, located on the ground floor, became articulated with panels in wood and natural straw. Fixed to a rail on the slab, which runs the entire length of the L-shaped window, the panels can be moved and placed according to the exposed furniture.