Bahia House at Salvador, Brazil by Studiomk27.

Location: Salvador, Brazil
Project: February 2007
Completion: April 2009
Site area: 2.165 sqm
Built area: 690 sqm 

Essential credits:
Architecture: Studio mk27
Architect: Marcio Kogan
Co-architect: Samanta Cafardo, Suzana glogowski
Interior Design: Diana Radomysler
Project team: Henrique Bustamante, Mariana Simas, Oswaldo Pessano

Tel: 55 11 30813522
Address: Al. Tietê, 505 São Paulo sp Brazil 01417-020
Site: www.studiomk27.com

Photographer: Nelson Kon
Tel: 55 11 32314868
Email: nk@nelsonkon.com.br

Landscape designer: Renata Tilli
Contractor: Eng Construtora
Arch. Sergio Ekerman
Structure Engineer: v&n Engenheiros Associados

The exterior is made up of large panels of wooden Mashrabiyas for ventilation.
The exterior is made up of large panels of wooden Mashrabiyas for ventilation.
The stone walls and wooden ceiling creates a welcoming atmosphere in the house.
The stone walls and wooden ceiling creates a welcoming atmosphere in the house.
The living area has a leather sofa and carpet, creating a rustic atmosphere.
The living area has a leather sofa and carpet, creating a rustic atmosphere.
The living room is designed to have ventilation to keep the interior cool.
The living room is designed to have ventilation to keep the interior cool.
A covered patio sits next to the living room.
A covered patio sits next to the living room.
A stone-faced wall next to the dining area creates a dramatic effect in the room.
A stone-faced wall next to the dining area creates a dramatic effect in the room.
The dining area overlooks the other side of the house.
The dining area overlooks the other side of the house.
The house has roofs of clay and wooden ceiling that helps cool the interior of the house.
The house has roofs of clay and wooden ceiling that helps cool the interior of the house.
The kitchen features a kitchen island with a ceramic tile countertop.
The kitchen features a kitchen island with a ceramic tile countertop.
The bedroom features a wooden panel used as a shutters and ventilation to keep the interior cool.
The bedroom features a wooden panel used as a shutters and ventilation to keep the interior cool.
The Bahia House uses all these elements that are traditional to Brazilian houses.
The Bahia House uses all these elements that are traditional to Brazilian houses.
The patio has a view of the two mango trees in the grass garden.
The patio has a view of the two mango trees in the grass garden.
A small outdoor table was made under one of the mango trees.
A small outdoor table was made under one of the mango trees.
Fruitful mango tree beside a swimming pool.
Fruitful mango tree beside a swimming pool.
This view features the landscape in the middle of the compound.
This view features the landscape in the middle of the compound.
The pool is shaded by a mango tree, perfect for cooling off in the hot climate of the place.
The pool is shaded by a mango tree, perfect for cooling off in the hot climate of the place.
The wooden panel can be utilized to access the swimming pool.
The wooden panel can be utilized to access the swimming pool.
The wooden panel and the landscaped garden give the place a cool atmosphere.
The wooden panel and the landscaped garden give the place a cool atmosphere.
House location plan.
House location plan.
Floor plan of the house.
Floor plan of the house.
Cross section of the house.
Cross section of the house.
Cross section of the house.
Cross section of the house.

Bahia House

The Bahia House is an ecological house. But, not in the technological sense, not in the contemporary sense of the word “sustainability”, it does not have the very latest state-of-the-art gadgets that make it possible to optimize electric expenditure.  The organization of the floor plan and the use of materials come close to those of traditional architecture.

The Bahia House makes use of the old popular knowledge that has been reinvented and incorporated throughout the history of Brazilian architecture. The house was considered for where it is, for the climate of where it is, for Bahia. And, for this no “green” software was used, no equipment and no calculations were made.  

The builders of bahian traditional houses have long-known how to keep interiors cool even with a blazing sun of more than 40ºC, long before the corbusian ideas had been tropicalized or even before Sir Norman Foster had given a precise, technological and scientific dimension to sustainable architecture. 

These bahian houses have roofs of clay, a banal material made in a rustic manner, and wooden ceilings. The openings have large panels of wooden Mashrabiyas brought to Brazil by the Portuguese colonial architecture since the first centuries of its occupation of the American territories, and its origin is of an Arabian cultural influence.

These wooden panels provide vast comfort to the interior.  The traditional bahian house uses the northeastern wind blowing in from the sea to organize the floor plan and has cross ventilation in its principal spaces, always making the interior cool and airy.

The Bahia House uses all these elements that are traditional to Brazilian houses. These adjustments of the Portuguese house to a tropical climate were always studied and applied by modernism in Brazil. The result in this case is a very pleasant house, where the interior protects from the hot and sunny climate outdoors. 

The floor plan is entirely organized around a central patio, making the cross ventilation in all the spaces possible and a view that looks in, to a grassed garden and two exuberant mango trees. The Bahia House privileges the environmental comfort of its dwellers but does not make use of the “most modern technology” for this. 

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