UNA barbara e valentim

Carambó Pavillion

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This leisure pavilion was built on the Carambó Farm, located on the border of the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, near the city of Joanópolis. The farm is situated at an altitude of 1000 meters in the Serra da Mantiqueira.

The farm is inserted in a large valley for pastures whose surrounding mountains are lined on top by native forest. There used to be a house, built on a plateau at the intermediate level between the ridge and the valley floor. This house is a reconstruction of an old house from the Lopo neighborhood, a stop for troopers in the 19th century, which was to be demolished.

Starting from the main house, the new pavilion was built perpendicular to it. The construction was laid out as a large balcony, protected from the sun and strong winds. Through the relationship with the existing elements – hill, house, walls, chapel, paths – the pavilion reorganizes the landscape as a whole.

As a design option, local materials and local labor were chosen. Thus, wood, stone, bricks and clay tiles were used in the project’s construction, and the farm’s own employees carried out the work.

The Eucalyptus Citrodora, grown on site, was used in the structural system and received autoclave treatment, whose protection is peripheral. The pieces were used maintaining their physical integrity: there were no cuts or wedges, so as not to expose the core of the wood. The connections between the wood pieces are ensured by steel angle brackets.

Stones, granite blocks, are found loose in the pasture: the retaining walls were used by the farm’s employees on a regular basis. These were reused in the design of the new pavilion, subverting the original idea of earth containment and becoming elements that configure the space.

The soil allows the extraction of quality clay for the manufacture of bricks. These were baked in a brick factory, especially for the project. The roofing tiles used come from other buildings on the farm, already demolished.

Built on a new plateau, the volume of the pavilion overhangs the pasture, revealing the land’s subtle slope. Four sliding panels allow the total opening of the space over the landscape; its closing is made of ipê slats to control the solar incidence.

A large brick floor crosses the pavilion, connecting the pools to a patio. This patio, protected from the winds, is formed by a water mirror and a flamboyant tree, transplanted from the pasture. In the high stone walls, two openings bring the little chapel and the road closer together. These walls direct the view to the top of the hills; the brick yard, in turn, opens to the valley.

Place

Joanópolis, São Paulo

Project start date

2001 . 2002

Architecture

UNA arquitetos: Cristiane Muniz, Fábio Valentim, Fernanda Barbara, Fernando Viégas
Marcus Vinícius Barreto Lima (co-authors)

Collaborators

Camila Lisboa, Guilherme Petrella, Mariana Alves de Souza

Area of the Site

101,64 ha

Constructed Area

150,00 m²

Construction

Sylvio Iasi Junior

Lighting Design

Ricardo Heder

Photography

Bebete Viégas