Casa Tropical

Casa Tropical – Description / text

Mundaú is a fishing village in an immense beach in the state of Ceará, in Northeast Brazil. 3º 10’ 42.51” south of the Equator, years are split in wet and dry seasons, with temperatures ranging from 22ºC to 33ºC. Heavy rainfall from January to July ensures a fertile ground where vegetation flourishes until December.

The clients wanted a holiday house with 3 bedrooms that allowed wide possibilities of contact with nature. We have replaced the conventional solution in domestic architecture - a compact volume with internal circulation - with a gallery that surrounds the 3 floors of the house and corresponds to 50% of the total area. Both the wooden skin that envelops the gallery and the suspended roof shelter the house from the sun while keeping it permeable to the cool southern wind, avoiding the need for air conditioning.

We thought of systems in which earth, sun and shadow, coconut trees and other trees, dunes and sea, would complete the design of the house, suggesting a condensed and sensual experience of close and faraway nature.