House in Rio Bonito, Brazil

via designboom.com | photos © Nelson Kon

Carla Juaçaba’s design for a weekend home in mountainous eastern region of Rio de Janeiro uses the load bearing properties of meter-thick stone walls to suspend the roof and floor joists. Four steel beams puncture walls so as to allow a sliver of glazing to wash the interior of the stone walls with diffused light. The visual weight of the rustic stone counters the lightness of the horizontal planes, creating an effect that mirrors the nearby river where diaphanous space confronts stalwart earth. The home explores the architectonics of encounter; water and fire, weight and lightness, archaic and industrial, and solid versus void.
Read the rest of this article @ designboom »