The Paraty House by Marcio Kogan Architects
Marcio Kogan Architects have designed the Paraty House, located in Paraty, Brazil.
Full description after the photos….
Photos by Nelson Kon
The Paraty House by Marcio Kogan Architects
Paraty House’s two reinforced concrete boxes, sit atop each other, connected on the mountainside of one of the islands of the colonial city of Paraty and Angra dos Reis (between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro), like two modern prisms between the large colossal stones of the Brazilian coast.
The building projects outward from the mountain, almost onto the beach, in an 8m cantilever. The house finds balance in the topography of the land, creating an extensive open doorway and living space in the practically untouched nature. Paraty House features a furniture collection showcasing 20thcentury design, including works by many well-known artists.
The residents arrive by boat. After stepping out onto the sand a metallic bridge positioned over a crystal-lined reflecting pool leads to a set of stairs connecting to the lower volume. This volume contains the living room, kitchen and service area. The continual internal area has a 27m span and huge glass windows to take advantage of the view of the sea.
The same entrance stairs also lead to the upper volume that houses the bedrooms. In the front part of the house, retractile panels of eucalyptus sticks protect the bedrooms from the sun. The areas that face the mountain have small internal patios with zenithal lighting, and use exposed reinforced concrete, which grants a striking texture to the walls.
The entire top of the house is covered with terraces, used as observation decks for the residents, and as a garden for sculptures, medicinal plants and edible herbs.
Architectural Co-Author: Suzana Glogowski
Interior Co-Author: Diana Radomysler, Carolina Castroviejo
Visit the website of Marcio Kogan Architects – here.
Sarah McFerguson on 08 Sep 2009 at 10:59 pm #
Marcio Kogan is architectural royalty.
Oliver on 08 Sep 2009 at 11:22 pm #
this house is breathtaking … can’t find more words
MAYSOON on 09 Sep 2009 at 3:22 am #
this is real architect
roger on 09 Sep 2009 at 4:07 am #
I don’t know if this is a real architect, but I know that is a real architecture. My friends, watch and learn!
kate on 09 Sep 2009 at 4:38 am #
wow…
wow.
Dave Sood on 09 Sep 2009 at 5:16 am #
What a great amalgam of nature and living.Bravo
Jim on 09 Sep 2009 at 6:10 am #
Striking! (pardon me while i wipe the drool off my desk.) If we could only get that level of quality with poured concrete in the US.
Rudy on 09 Sep 2009 at 7:05 am #
Totally awesome house in a fantastic setting. It doesn’t get any better then this. Does it?
Aline Louise on 09 Sep 2009 at 8:31 am #
Márcio Kogan é meu ídolo =D! Fantástico.
g moreira on 09 Sep 2009 at 9:37 am #
nice, fine, sublime.
S. Joshi on 09 Sep 2009 at 10:41 am #
Mind blowing BOSS!!! Lovely.
Jamie on 09 Sep 2009 at 11:10 am #
Partayyyy at the Paraty House !!!!!!
lolol
Connie on 09 Sep 2009 at 12:32 pm #
Wow – that’s an amazing home! I could watch 100 more photos. *drool*
Did you realize how well the plush beige rug mimics the beach? A real lovely detail. Who wouldn’t want to live there?
Tristan on 09 Sep 2009 at 1:48 pm #
I like the use of textures and lighting, both help to seamlessly transition the outside to the inside. But idk about this cantilever concrete box stacking job, it seems to be the norm with contemporary design and is a bit played out IMHO. But I will admit better than I could ever dream up. Are there any sustainable living design features? now that would be cool. Some pics of other rooms? bathroom? try and tell me that’s not an important part of the house.
Simon on 09 Sep 2009 at 2:55 pm #
… gorgeous, … but it still rains all the time in Paraty, so imagining it during one of those weeks of interminable non-stop drizzle I find helps ease the envy!
Jim on 09 Sep 2009 at 3:25 pm #
This design looks like it could have been hacked from Frank Lloyd Wright…many of the ideas and materials…themes and lighting.
Still noteworthy to say the least.
Jon on 09 Sep 2009 at 6:35 pm #
Absolutely gorgeous.
jwc3 on 09 Sep 2009 at 7:11 pm #
Kogan does it again: Another awesome house. I just wish the floorplans were included in this article.
Jen on 10 Sep 2009 at 5:21 am #
I think I’ve just found my dream house…..what a guy I’m so impressed. Like to see the floorplans too just for all round appreciation
sarah on 10 Sep 2009 at 5:50 am #
wow i wish i could buildd one like this next time build one with solar power to help home owners to cut there elect.bill thnks its a fantastic home ..
Manuel on 10 Sep 2009 at 6:03 am #
now it looks great…
and in 20years?
rekha on 10 Sep 2009 at 6:34 am #
Just one word – Brilliant!
dan on 10 Sep 2009 at 6:55 am #
I could stare at these innovative designs for hours and hours at a time.
rory bailie on 10 Sep 2009 at 9:43 am #
this house is just f-ing sick….which is a good thing.
every kogan project touches is amazing……
Nic Stage on 10 Sep 2009 at 1:46 pm #
I still fail to understand the appeal of architecture like this. I disagree that it is a “good amalgam of nature and living” as a previous commenter opined. This structure is not at all conducive with its surroundings. Everything about it seems to reject nature, in fact. The box is so rare in nature as to be almost non-existent, and this design seems to amplify and glorify the concept of the box. As the poster stated it is simply “two reinforced concrete boxes, sit[ting] atop each other”. This is reminiscent of unnatural places that are ugly, like warehouses, factories, and shipping yards.
I think people like to say architecture like this is conducive to its environment are getting the true environment confused with the way in which they are comfortable (Or uncomfortable) living in (Or not in) that environment.
Lance on 10 Sep 2009 at 3:39 pm #
Holy F*cking Sh*t. It takes something truly stunning to drag that phrase out of me and this magnificent house does it in spades. It’s texture, it’s warmth, it’s spacial, it’s color, it’s everything true modern design should be.
If this were Gilligan’s Isle I would personally sink the ship myself.
Moi on 10 Sep 2009 at 7:47 pm #
Warmth? It appears cold and harsh to me…if it were located on a mountainside without a beautiful white beach and blue sea, it would look like a bunker
Marcelo on 10 Sep 2009 at 10:46 pm #
Nothing is cold in Brazil.
Ifat Eliyahu on 11 Sep 2009 at 5:43 am #
Thanks guys for comlimenting on my new home, I also loved it the first time I saw it! ha ha ha
Just kidding!!! IT IS WOW!!! Absolutely breathtaking and original. I’m actually speechless…no words to describe!
Avery Krittiqual on 11 Sep 2009 at 5:54 am #
I find the lighting to be one-sided – either too bright or dark, depending on the viewer’s orientation. The living space has just that – too much space with little functionality. The appliances are nice, but the kitchen layout was designed for take-out. For me, the only word that sums up this project is…expensive.
Katerina on 11 Sep 2009 at 3:08 pm #
It is awesome! But…. for living…. where do they put those hundreds of little things we all have in our drawers, on our tables …and everywhere….that make a house….cosy?
Douglas on 11 Sep 2009 at 6:29 pm #
Very nice house, reminds me of Franklin Lloyd Wright’s Falling water house.
Vanessa on 12 Sep 2009 at 7:04 am #
beautiful, tranquil, and soothing are the first words that come to mind. I would love to spend time in such a blissful home. Well done.
Melissa on 12 Sep 2009 at 5:58 pm #
This house is wicked cool. I wanna visit!!
Zane on 12 Sep 2009 at 8:21 pm #
Oh my… If only there were more homes as beautiful and creative as this in the world! It’s absolutely amazing!
Simonson on 12 Sep 2009 at 9:52 pm #
How exactly is the house protected by rain. I know the living room and bedrooms are technically interior, but with slanted rain or rain that drips into the area, how is it a decent idea to have furniture right next to the glass rail?
AMcA on 13 Sep 2009 at 7:47 pm #
I’m laying odds that the next James Bond script gets a Brazilian bit just so they can film at this house.
Magnificent.
John Lautner would be proud to see this – it’s his offspring.
Chris on 14 Sep 2009 at 12:57 pm #
I agree, I would like to see the costs of this hosue (for one obviously the real estate for this property must be outrageous). And, with all that glass, what about the heat loss during the evening hours? (The solar gain seems its probably deflected because of the setback of the glass from the edge of the projecting boxes).
I mean overall I like the design of the house, especially the poured concrete, but does it really seem like it would be that “livable”? It seems more of a sculptural, artistic house rather than a livable space (especially with the well known 20th Century furniture collection). Cool design none-the-less!
Kate on 14 Sep 2009 at 1:36 pm #
amaaaaaaaazing!!!!
Miessy on 15 Sep 2009 at 2:36 am #
fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jwc3 on 15 Sep 2009 at 8:42 am #
Heat loss??? This house is in Brazil. In a tropical jungle heat loss is a good thing.
edna on 15 Sep 2009 at 8:45 am #
i always always adore his works, always, awesome!!!
Ear Gauges on 19 Sep 2009 at 10:31 am #
Amazing house! the texture on the ceiling wow
Eduardo on 19 Sep 2009 at 4:28 pm #
Fantastic house with an incredible location.
Shadow And Act on 22 Sep 2009 at 10:01 am #
Amazing! A piece of art you’d only see in fiction on screen.
Doug on 22 Sep 2009 at 3:16 pm #
I appreciate the simplicity of the forms. I think it is a beautiful design which will age better than most because of it’s simplicity. So much design is overly complicated with no real concept. It may be a bit derivative but that isn’t always a bad thing.
Carlos on 22 Sep 2009 at 3:45 pm #
Very reminiscent of Mies van der Rohe’s work specially the Barcelona pavilion in Spain and Le Corbu’s Villa Savoy , take for instance the outside/inside area in the kitchen it very much resembles the internal patio of the Brc Pavillion, or the monolithic configuration of the boxes how they act as frames for capturing the views very much like those outside “windows” found in the terrace of the Villa Savoye.
The design is very clever on how the structure and the outer walls act in unity to form an uninterrupted frame that captures the surrounding views without being obstructed by any internal columns. This reinforced concrete frame is also open to the outside creating the sensation of being outside when inside of the structure. As a result this creates a threshold and a connection with the surrounding site, views and nature. making this house an exquisite example of how architecture should respond to the conditions presented by the site.
Carmel on 24 Sep 2009 at 12:06 am #
…i totally agree with all of the above and some.. but…i’m..still..jealous..lol
Leonardo Ximenes on 02 Oct 2009 at 10:32 am #
I don’t even know where to start…what a brutal exageration of program: 4 levels of wasted space organized to produce ostentation. The use of a box to frame views and create inside/outside interactions is clever and never old, but two boxes, one on top of the other, just wrecks the overall composition. The house looks presumptuous and overdone, which is ironic, since brutalist prismatic forms seek to achieve the opposite effect. And ’sustainability’?? just imagine the impact of the huge concrete slab that anchors the entire thing to the sand ground of an island! If Bucky Fuller asked his famous question ‘how much does your building weight’, can you imagine the answer on this case? I usually admire Kogan’s creations; this is by far his worst job, an aberration of his language that hopefully won’t ever happen again. And btw, the descriptive text is as pompous as the house, it looks like something written in a second class interior design magazine! To my colleages, I beg you to take a second, more careful look. We justly criticize millionaries who build Mcmansions that look like an 18 century castle for they childish desire of a kinglike life. This is the same thing, but using contemporary language.We should learn to be responsible professionals serving not only a client, but the entire society.
nouara on 20 Oct 2009 at 6:37 am #
l”architecture et les matériaux utilisés s’intégrent parfaitement a la nature ,le jeu de lumiére et les grandes baies vitrées la fluidité de l’édifice ,,,,tous çé font partie des concepts de l’architecture poste moderniste ,,c vraiment un chef d’oeuvre ,,,bravo
Eamonn on 22 Oct 2009 at 2:06 pm #
I knew Tracy Island always really did exist. I want to live here.
Gordon on 23 Oct 2009 at 5:09 am #
Did anyone notice the way the photographer worked his reflection into the composition of the 16th photo (the shot of the kitchen/adjoined patio)? That IS the photographer, am I right? I showed the photo to my mother and she couldn’t see what I was talking about. Can anyone else spot the man in the white oxford and bluejeans?
Jeff on 28 Oct 2009 at 2:02 pm #
Breathtaking, a masterpiece. But I wonder about the function of all the open air features of this beautiful house. It is situated in a jungle. Do I really want a kitchen with retractable windows without screens?
jim on 29 Oct 2009 at 9:14 pm #
This ‘house’ embodies exactly what is wrong with current architecture. It’s arrogant. It’s economically unrealistic. It’s implausible in the extreme for genuine humans from the standpoint of everything from materials to engineering to acoustics, and even central purpose (this ‘house’ was designed to win an award. Gad, these architects can’t even respect themselves as clients.)
I can hear the response already. “The program called for a concrete tunnel with a single axis preventing any views of the periphery and a bitchen futuristic glass wall out to the ocean.” Tell me that’s not putting form way above function.
I can hear the architects saying “Take it easy man, it’s just a place for hanging out and looking cool; tossing back a couple of tall ones. Nothing wrong with that, eh?”
Look at this building again and tell me there’s not some kind of alarm that goes off when you contemplate actually committing to live in it for the rest of your life, with your extended family.
Real architecture has the decency and dignity to be quiet–not to be there for anybody but the occupant. What kind of an architect are you if your work is stained by your childish need for attention. Style is your enemy, and it’s your client’s enemy. Real architecture is goddamn invisible and most of our profession has completely forgotten that.
hZ! on 08 Nov 2009 at 8:06 am #
i agree absolutely with jim, nic stage, leonardo ximenes and moi.
we are not evolved to feel comfortable in such a shape. if i were in a cave with that shape i’d be scared stiff for the reason that the collapse of the roof would be imminent. what is this obsession we have with rectangles? rhetorical of course; they’re easy to build with.
the kitchen doesn’t allow for anyone to keep you company while you cook unless the weather is nice. everything is too narrow in one or another direction. that picture with the lights along one wall, leading to a doorway to another part of the house… it feels as if there isn’t room to walk there without walking on the lights. lack of symmetry.
all those glass balustrades look confining and uncomfortable and cold. the wire in the stair railing looks high-tensile, like something out of ‘cube’. dangerous-looking.
yes ok it looks pleasant with the sun shining in at the one time of day that it does- but notice there seem not to be windows at any other aspect. and although it superfically appears that there is an openness to nature, those pools act as a barrier against it. i have stayed in a little wooden house in which you stepped out of the bright front room and onto the dunes. THAT was close to nature. no glass walls and elevated walled-off pools there no, it’s all too bunker-like, prison-like.
and looking at it makes me dread being flattened, slab down onto slab. horrible
Ana Abate on 20 Nov 2009 at 3:22 pm #
As opinioes são livres, porém as críticas foram bastante exageradas e não levaram em consideração a criação clean e o talento indiscutivel de kogan.
A casa é show, assim como Paraty e claro, o nosso Brasil!
ward on 21 Nov 2009 at 4:25 am #
Imagine all the jungle bugs that will attract at night…
Maartenh on 09 Jan 2010 at 9:01 am #
Very nice!!! This house reminds me of the work of rem koolhaas from OMA. A dutch architect who made maison aux bordeax (france).
This design is more beautifull, but it’s like the architect forget the human scale. It’s so big!! But for some…big is beautifull!
ADL on 16 Jan 2010 at 2:13 pm #
Came upon this house when on vacation in Brazil, seeing it from our yacht offshore (it’s remote – reachable by just helicopter and boat). Not only is it magnificent, but it responds extremely well to its setting and is stunningly beautiful.
Clever articulation of space and the cool, understated finishes means it brings the jungle into itself. I can only imagine what it’s like to be inside, the forest and turquoise Paraty waters framed by the geometry of the spaces.
Yes, of course it’s big and costly – and perhaps “arrogant”; it’s owned by a billionaire media mogul and is intended to be a spectacular grand gesture.
And to the person who wrote the (hilarious) comment: “the kitchen doesn’t allow for anyone to keep you company while you cook unless the weather is nice.”: Do you really think the uber-wealthy worry about such things? They have staff to feel lonely in the kitchen.
I see Wallpaper* magazine has just awarded it the world’s Best New Private House. Deservedly so.
KARIME PEREIRA on 21 Jan 2010 at 1:11 pm #
Maravilhosa…adoramos…digna de prêmio mesmo!!!!
GMFF on 03 Feb 2010 at 11:39 pm #
For those of you who were looking for floorplans of the house:
http://www.arcoweb.com.br/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4668&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=14&link_aux=true
Use the small arrow on the bottom right to flip through the plans. You guys can use Google Translate to translate the labels from Portuguese to English.
Enjoy