Casa São José do Barreiro by Vão Arquitetura

So many manifestations are embedded in the Casa São José do Barreiro as a house designed for a garden. This then made the architect, Vao Arquitetura, need to give great dedication to answering the question, how will this project handle the context? Or rather, how can this house appear as itself?

Casa São José do Barreiro is built in the middle of a garden with a wide variety of plants.

Located in the center of a small town in the São Paulo Historic Valley, in the Serra da Bocaina region, São José do Barreiro once experienced a cycle of coffee crises in 1929. Based on that, the relationship between this house and the city is expected not to necessarily imitate the past as reflected in the surrounding environment.

Existing gates and outer walls border the house with a road in front.

However, at the same time, this house still needs to be able to establish a connection with the atmosphere that has enveloped the city since that moment. To understand the echoes of this history, Vao also made a closer introduction to the location of his project. Not just an ordinary site visit, there they also learned about the daily life of their people, both in the city square, the cultural space of Cine Theatro São José, and the site of Fazenda Pau D'alho. Thus, it was realized that there was a desire to establish a silent and subjective dialog between the house and the city.

The view of the house from below, just after entering the yard.

Furthermore, this project also has challenges that are no less pragmatic than before, namely its ability to meet all possibilities. Starting from a limited budget, development by inexperienced personnel, to the ability to combine a lot of traditional constructive knowledge that must be maintained. In addition, the project still has to consider the condition of the land on its site as a 'heritage'.

The view after ascending the ground level of the house is equipped with voids on it.

The void between the social and private blocks of the house has an impressive view that can be enjoyed from its concrete benches.

Not only is it an opportunity to celebrate the rich vegetation in it, but this project also tries to create a different experience for everyone who enters it. From the gate and its existing outer wall, a winding eye will be invited to capture the view of the house that seems to be hiding among the plants. After entering and meeting the stone steps under the void that divides the house into two blocks, don't forget to climb to the ground level of the house so you can see the impressive frame of the mango tree.

Meanwhile, as the one that plays the most significant role in dividing the program into social blocks and private blocks, the void is also useful for preventing simple perceptions like houses in the countryside. From the void, it can also be seen that there is a desire to reconcile the time-space and the typical expressions of its inhabitants.

The interior of the space in the social block.

Because, when compared to neighboring houses, the land in this project is the only one that has not been built. Thus, a green interval is formed that is visible from the sidewalk with various ornamental plants and fruits cultivated by the client's mother. Therefore, Casa São José do Barreiro was designed as a house for a garden, in contrast to the general logic of thinking about the construction of buildings first before the landscape (a garden designed for houses).

The social block in this house is directly connected to the outside view through its large windows.

The interior of the space in the private block.

While on one side there is a path that proposes a non-traditional transit space, on the other side, there is also a spacious concrete bench that reinterprets the contemplative activity typical of São José do Barreiro. That series of experiences were then further complemented by the clinking of the church's bell tower, the constructive solidity of the surrounding houses, the green garden in front, and the expanse of hills as the background.

The floor plan of Casa São José do Barreiro.

The cross-section plan of Casa São José do Barreiro.