Mínimo Arquitetura e Design Develop 2×2 House

Brasilia, DF, Brazil

Project Status: Built

Year: 2017

The plan for 2×2 House was developed along two main circulation axes, in the longitudinal way there is the private areas and in the other way the social area.

Architizer chatted with William Veras, Partner at Mínimo Arquitetura e Design to learn more about the project.

Architizer: Please summarize the project brief and creative vision behind your project.

William Veras: The building site is situated at a calm and beautiful residencial neighborhood in Brasília-DF. The building site is very wide, which guided for a more elongated implantation. A square grid of 2×2 meters, along with two main circulation axes, defines the project, and the spaces varies from this base. Where those axes meet, the social core of the house is situated. The topography of the site was very smooth, so it lead to a very plan design, with integrated spaces, where the social area and the garden become almost one great space. Since the climate is very dry in most half of the year, the water and intern gardens plays an important role in this project, and it was distributed along the social area.

What inspired the initial concept for your design?

A single story house, which should be well illuminated, ventilated, had a generous social area, be opened to the garden and also have privacy from the neighbors. In addition, it should become two independent homes, one for the oldest son and the other for the rest of the family. These were the requests from our clients when they searched for our office.

What was the greatest design challenge you faced during the project, and how did you navigate it?

The greatest design challenge was to resolve the issue of rainwater collection in the social area of the house, where the roof is made of a metallic structure, and we wanted to keep it slender.

How did the context of your project — environmental, social or cultural — influence your design?

Our influences are Brazilian modernism and Brazilian colonial architecture, in addition to the bioclimatic issues of the arid climate of Brasilia’s cerrado, which was the city where both partners of the firm were born and studied.

How have your clients responded to the finished project?

They were very satisfied, it succeed their expectations.

Please list any team members and consultants you’d like to include in the credits.

Co-author: Architect Heloísa Moura | Co-author: Architect Niele Pires | Architect: Natália Gorgulho | Intern: Ian Alves

Metalic Structure engineer: ProEst Projetos de Estruturas e Construção Civil – Engineer Vladimir Villaverde | Concrete engineer: André Torres Cordeiro | Metalic estruture execution: ProEst Projetos de Estruturas e Construção Civil – Engineer. Vladimir Villaverde

Please list any products or materials that were crucial to the design.

Lurca – azulejos decorativos da cozinha e da bancada da churrasqueira. | Criarte – portas de madeira e painel vazado de madeira. | By Silva – porta e painel de madeira da entrada. | Scandian – piso de madeira | Multipedras – mármores e granitos | Vertical Esquadrias – esquadrias de alumínio | Block Beton – cobogó de concreto | Kit House – armários da cozinha, quartos e banheiros