Local studio Broco Arquitetos has completed a house in Brasilia surrounded by brick screens and a wide entrance portal that opens the central courtyard to the outside.
Known as Casa Tupin, the 420 square meter (4,520 square foot) mansion is rectangular with a large central courtyard.
Set in a gated community 20 kilometers from Brasilia, the 2025 home is designed to integrate interior and exterior interiors and a courtyard, which serves as both a leisure space and the home’s connecting focal point.
“A house without windows, it’s the windows themselves. Rather than opening up views in time, this project aims to transform the entire architecture into an intermediary between indoor life and the surrounding landscape,” Broko Arquitetos told Dezeen.
“This approach creates a building that engages with its environment through performance rather than transparency,” the studio said.
Instead of large expanses of glazing, the vertical surfaces between the raised concrete slab and deep roof structure are coral-coloured bricks, arranged as solid walls or windbreak-like screens, bathing the house in texture and filtered light.
Brick and concrete, selected for their durability and consistency of composition, protect the interior from excessive heat. The studio explained that the restrained palette allows light, shadow and time to become part of the architecture.
“This porous façade acts simultaneously as protection from the sun’s rays and as a permanent ventilation filter, allowing air to flow in all directions throughout the house,” the studio said.
“All spaces are organized around this system that integrates structure, climate control and spatial experience into a single architectural strategy.”
Circulation, living spaces and private areas are arranged to maximize ventilation and the idea of the house as a continuous architectural experience following the structural logic of the design.
Supported by 12 columns, three-quarters of the plan is raised above ground level to provide natural ventilation under the house, maintain the existing topography, and allow plants native to the Brazilian savanna (Cerrado) to grow beneath the house.
“This height allows small animals that live in the Cerrado (mainly lizards and burrowing owls) to move freely between the outside garden and the courtyard,” the studio said, noting that the layout also allowed for the preservation of the existing tree in the center of the courtyard.
By suspending the house and separating it from the ground, the designers were able to connect spatial concepts and environmental goals.
“This structural clarity allows the building to appear both stable and light, reinforcing the idea of height as an architectural and environmental strategy,” the studio said.
“Another important achievement was reversing the perception of transparency: from the outside, the house appears closed and opaque, but inside it is open, fluid, and visually spacious.”
Other recent housing projects that use screens for ventilation include Paul Ruff’s renovation of a home in Puerto Rico and Field Atelier’s renovation of a wooden house in Goa, India.
Photographed by Joanna França.
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