The Leaf House is designed by Mareines + Patalano Arquitetura in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.The Leaf House project was inspired by Brazil’s Indian architecture, perfectly suited for the hot and humid climate where it stands, Angara dos Reis, one hour drive south of Rio de Janeiro. The roof of The Leaf House acts as a big leaf that protects from the hot sun all the enclosed spaces of the house as the in-between open spaces, truly the most important ones.
Design of The Leaf House
These in-between open spaces represent the essence of the design. They are the social areas, where the owner of The Leaf House and his guests spend most of their time. The very generous heights of these spaces, which vary from 3 to 9metres, allow the SE trade winds from the sea to pass perfectly longitudinally trough the building, providing natural ventilation and passive cooling both to the enclosed and open spaces. There are no corridors and inside and outside are almost fused. Many sliding doors, most glazed, open up the enclosed spaces and let the sea breeze in. The landscape is everywhere on the ground floor, and the curvy swimming pool snakes into The Leaf House.
Interior of The Leaf House
The roof structure of The Leaf Houseis made of laminated reforestation wood (eucalyptus), capable of crossing big spans (20 meters is the biggest here) with delicacy and warm aesthetics. The roof is covered in small reforestation wood tiles (pinustaeda), that easily adapt to the complexes surfaces of it. The Leaf Housealso collects rain water via the central steel column to be reused in gardening and flushing toilet.
All surfaces finishes, except for glass and pre-oxidized copper are natural: Grey tiles of stone from the site, bamboo meshes, local wood from remanagement forests, earthy flooring and wood reused from old electricity posts. The use of all these natural materials on The Leaf House, the transparency of the glass, the neutrality of the oxidized copper relating to the prevailing green of the designed and natural landscape along with the organic composition of The Leaf Houseand rich diversity of textures and rhythms created a very desirable reality.Hharmony with the exuberant BBrazilian nature is sensation of belonging to The Leaf House.
