INNOVATIONS

 1. MATERIALS

-CONCRETE: the construction of Mendes Da Rocha house coincide on a period when they research about the possibilities of reinforced concrete and the relation between artificial construction and natural ground.On the post-war period in Brasil, concrete looked like the tool to meet the needs of society. Butanta house explore teh possibilities of concrete inside the building, and although it was made in situ, its elements could be prefabricated. Da Rocha achieves the sensation of weightlessness for the heaviest materials suspending the volumes near the ground, and also with the horizontality of the building.

HORIZONTAL

SUSPENDING VOLUMES

Concrete is used in structural issues and in the smaller items.

CHIMNEY

SHOWER

-WOOD + GLASS + TILE: Concrete, wood glass ant tile are almost the only material. Luxury doesn’t come from the use of exclusive materials, but by the relationship between space and structure.

2. STRUCTURE

The structure consists of a latticework made of thin sheets of concrete which produces the sensation of lightness. Due to the poor soil resistance, loads were concentrated on the fewest possible points, so the whole structure is based on four pilotis. This solution makes it look like the house is floating.

The structure of this house is very similar to the Villa Saboya from Le Corbusier. Both have the same square shape in plant and pilotis in the first floor.

3. LIGHT

All the facades get the sunlight because the house is rotated 45º north and the sun comes diagonally. As the cover is bigger than the main floor, the central areas are are illuminated by skylights.

Windows are located in the short facades and have the same length.

In this case we can see that Mendes da Rocha used the concept of ‘long window’ that Le Corbusier had used 30 years ago on Villa Saboya.

4. NEW TECHNOLOGIES

-VENTILATION: The house is ventilated between the two walls with windows. Mendes da Rocha didn’t reach the ceiling, so the wind can flow in every room.

-WINDOWS: Mendes da Rocha invented the mechanism of the Windows. A glass with almost no carpentry with a mechanism that allows the pivot of each window and the ventilation. The window is in equilibrium when it’s open, so it goes to that position alone with no effort. In addition, windows don’t need to be open for the ventilation, due to the expansion of the glass.

-INSTALATIONS: The shower projected by Mendes da Rocha looks like a capsule, and S shaped pipes are used as towel rack on the bathroom. Desktops and dining table are made of concrete.